Anything for a Friend
by JasonMorganfan87
Summary: This is a sequel to my story 'The Importance of Respect' It has been six months since Tim returned to LA with his team and since he last saw anyone from Team Gibbs. Six months since he swore to never see them again. But what happens when a close friend is in need of help that only they can give? Will Tim be willing to work with those who betrayed him to save him?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles or any of their characters**

**Anything for a Friend**

Callen made his way into his house at around eight pm. He took off his coat and dropped his bad before headed towards the stairs. It was then that he heard a noise coming from the back. He immediately took out his gun and slowly made his way into the kitchen towards the back of the house. He looked around and found nothing.

Callen was about to check outside when he felt a presence from behind him. He turned just in time to fend off an attack from two men. One the men tackled him to the ground, causing the gun to fall out of his hand.

Callen immediately kneed the man in stomach, causing him to double over, and then he rose to his feet. Just as he did though, the second man launched an attack on him. He though a punch, which Callen quickly dodged. Callen then through his own punch, knocking the wind out of the man.

Callen immediately went to go for his gun, but stopped immediately when he saw three more men waiting for him. One was a man he'd recognize anywhere. "Kort."

Kort smiled smugly. "Hello, Callen. I'm afraid you're going to have to come with us."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim made his way into the office the next morning and immediately went to take his seat. He was surprised to see that his partner was also there. "Hey, Kens. You're here early." Most of the time, Kensi was the last one in. She always made it on time, just usually last.

"Yeah, well, I may have forgotten to finish all my paperwork last night and Hetty may have called me at home and told me to be here an hour early to finish it," Kensi said.

Tim laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like Hetty."

Just then Sam walked in. "Morning."

"Hey. Where's Callen?" Tim asked.

"How should I know? Do I look like his mother? Don't answer that," Sam said when he saw Tim open his mouth to respond. He could just guess what their newest member's answer would be.

"Well, you have to admit, the two of you do show up at the same time more times than not," Kensi said.

"Well, not today," Sam said as he went to his desk next to Tim.

"It's true though. The two of you are usually like clockwork. You either show up at the exact same time, and you're usually bickering like an old married couple," Tim said. "In fact, if I didn't know any better…"

"Do you miss getting smacked upside the head? Because I could help you with that," Sam said as glared lightheartedly at his friend.

Tim just snickered in response. "Seriously though, I wonder where he is. This is late for him."

"Maybe he slept in," Kensi said.

They all looked at each other before speaking in unison. "Na!"

"Please, G would have to sleep period before he could sleep in," Sam said. He still remembered when his partner had stayed with him. It was like he was nocturnal. He barely ever slept. He kept Sam up more nights than not

"Well, I'm sure he'll turn up soon. We should get to work," Tim said before turning on his computer on so he could start working.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

About an hour later, Callen still hadn't shown up. To say the team was a bit uneasy would be an understatement. Callen was rarely ever late. In fact, the only time he was was when his cover had been compromised and he had to go off the grid. So him being late did not bode well. It meant that something must have happened to him.

"Maybe you should try to call him again," Kensi told Sam.

"I tried three times. It went straight to voicemail. His phone is off," Sam said. That made him even more nervous than the fact that his partner was late. G never turned his phone off. They all knew better than that. Their jobs were too important and too dangerous for that.

When he was with Gibbs, this would be when Tim would've suggested tracing his phone. But Callen's phone did not have GPS locator chip. None of their phones did. It was a safety precaution in case someone managed to get the code or something.

Kensi looked towards Hetty's office and saw that the woman was on the phone. From the look on her face, it seemed as though she was screaming at the person. "Hetty has been on the phone for nearly a half an hour. You think she knows whatever is going on?"

"It wouldn't surprise me. Hetty knows everything before the rest of us," Sam said.

"I think we're about to find out," Tim said as he watched Hetty slam the phone and walk out of her office.

"The Operations Center. Now," Hetty ordered before heading towards the stairs.

The others immediately jumped up and followed quickly. They walked in to see Eric and Nell at their stations. They both looked surprised to see them there.

"What's going on?" Eric asked.

"That's a good question. Hetty, is this about G? Do you know where he is?" Sam asked.

"What do you mean? Is Callen missing?" Nell asked.

"It seems that way. He's an hour late," Tim said.

"Oh God," Eric said. He knew very well the severity of that. Callen was never later. He was usually early.

"What could've happened?" Nell asked.

"Was he kidnapped?" Eric asked in concern.

Hetty put up her hand to stop everyone from talking. "Mr. Callen was not abducted. At least not in the traditional sense."

"What do you mean, Hetty?" Kensi asked. She didn't like the way she said that. It sounded like something very bad had just gone down.

Hetty took a deep breath. "Mr. Callen was arrested by the CIA."


	2. Chapter 2

"He's been what?" Sam asked in shock. Had she just said G had been arrested by the CIA? That was ridiculous. G hadn't done anything to warrant being arrested by the CIA. They hadn't even done anything regarding the CIA in months.

"What for?" Tim asked. He too had a hard time believing Callen had pissed the CIA off so much that they arrested him.

"That is a very good question. One no one seems to want to answer," Hetty said sounding very irritated. "Not even the Director has been able ascertain the reason for this."

"How can the director not know? You know what, screw it. I say we go down ourselves and find out what the hell is going on," Sam said.

"That's not possible, Mr. Hanna. Not unless we want to be arrested as well. There is apparently an order barring all of NCIS from this investigation, and that includes seeing or speaking with Mr. Callen," Hetty said.

"They can't do that, can they? Callen has rights," Eric said.

"It's the CIA, Eric. They can do just about anything they want," Tim said. Trent Kort and all the crap he'd pulled when Tim worked for Gibbs was still firmly in his mind. "And as every other agency likes to remind us so often, we are the bottom of the federal food chain.

"So what do we do? We can't just leave Callen to fend for himself with the CIA. We have to do something," Kensi said.

"I can hack into the CIA. Try to find out what he's being charged with," Eric said.

"You will do nothing of the sort, Mr. Beal. Mr. Callen wouldn't have you risking your career and freedom for him and neither will I. Officially, we will have no part in this investigation," Hetty said.

Tim raised an eyebrow at her word choice. "What about unofficially?"

Hetty looked right at him. "There is nothing _we_ can do, Mr. McGee," she said pointedly before walking out of the Ops. Center.

"Okay, I know she meant something by that, but what?" Eric asked.

Tim appeared to be in deep thought for a minute before turning to his partner. "Kensi, what's today's date?"

"January 13, why?" Kensi asked. That was a pretty random question. What did today's date matter?

"I'd say it's been about seven and a half years since I spoke to my father. I really should look him up," Tim said before walking away.

"What the hell? He's gonna call his father at a time like this?" Sam asked.

Kensi smirked. She'd figured it out. Tim had told her all about his father. "Tim's father is a Navy Admiral."

"Oh," Sam said as the significance registered in his brain.

Eric frowned. "Am I missing something?"

"Admiral is a very high ranking position in the Navy. It means his father knows people in power all over the world. He would have connections from here to Congress."

Eric finally got it. "And he would be able to find things out about other government agents. Like say the CIA?"

Sam nodded.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim managed to get him to find out the information he needed about Callen. That was about four hours ago. Though he supposed it took time to get the information, even for someone as influenced as his father.

Suddenly the phone rang. Tim snatched it up before it even made it to a full ring. "McGee. Hey, Dad."

Sam and Kensi's attention immediately went to their teammate and the conversation he was having.

Tim's mouth dropped open when he hear d what his father had to say. "What? No, that's impossible."

"What is it?" Sam asked.

Tim took the phone away from his ear for a minute as his father began to yell. When he stopped, he brought it back. "No, Dad, I'm not calling you a liar. I'm calling them liars," he said before once again listening to his father talk. He regretted listening immediately. "I don't need this lecture. I know Callen. I will never believe that he'd do something like that. Now I have to go. I have a friend to save." He then hung up on his father before the man even had a chance to respond.

"Well?" Sam pressed the second his colleague was off the phone.

Tim took a deep breath. "Callen has been accused of sharing government secrets from his time with the CIA with a knownterrorist group in Iran."

"What?" Kensi asked.

"No way! G betraying this country? No way in hell!" Sam said adamantly.

"We should take this conversation elsewhere," Tim said. They weren't supposed to know this, so it would be a bad idea to have this conversation in the middle of the squad room.

Sam got up and led the way down the hall to the supply room. Once they were inside, he closed the door. "Okay, what the hell is going on here? No way did G do this."

"Agreed," Tim said.

Kensi nodded her own agreement.

"Somebody is obviously setting him up. The question is why? What does anyone have to gain from Callen being locked up?" Tim asked.

"We all have a lot of enemies, especially, G. He's been in the federal game the longest. I'm sure he's compiled a whole boatload of enemies," Sam said

"Yeah, but most of those enemies would kill him, not frame him," Kensi said.

"Maybe it's the CIA that's doing it. I've seen what agents in that agency are capable of. People like Trent Kort. Maybe they see Callen as some sort of threat. Or maybe they're looking for a fall guy. Someone to take the blame for something one of them did," Tim said.

"There could any number of reasons. Unfortunately, if we try to find out which one it is, we could be arrested!" Sam said in frustration. Not that that bothered him much. He'd risk that and more to save his partner. But they would most likely get caught before they could even figure anything out and they would be right where G was now. That would hardly help anything.

"We have to do something. We can't just let him fry," Kensi said.

Tim had to agree with his partner. They had to do something. Callen was always there for all of them and now they had to be there for him. The problem was that they couldn't do that within NCIS. The CIA would most definitely be watching their every move. But there was someone he knew that wouldn't be watched. Someone who was no longer with NCIS. Tim loathed the idea of going to the man, but he would do it for Callen. "I have an idea."


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you insane?" Sam asked when he heard Tim's plan. "You wanna trust that bastard to save G?"

"I don't see any other choice, Sam. We can't investigate ourselves without getting ourselves arrested, and if we don't do something, Callen is screwed. They don't need definitive proof to imprison for terrorism. All they have to do is cite the Patriot Act. Look, we don't have another option here. Yes, he is a bastard, but he was also a damn good agent. Even I can't deny that," Tim said.

"And what are we supposed to do? Just sit here on our hands while someone that none of us like or trust does our job for us?" Sam asked clearly unhappy about the situation.

"No, not all of us. It occurs to me that I haven't used any of my vacation time this year. I really should take it," Tim said.

Sam immediately realized what Tim was planning. "Whoa, no way. I'm not gonna let you go off alone and commit career suicide. G would kill me."

"Well, he won't have the chance to kill you if he spends the rest of his life in a federal prison. Besides, I won't be alone," Tim said.

Sam snorted. "No, you'll be with the king of all jackasses. That's worse than alone."

"Once again I ask what choice do we have? We're not just talking about keeping a team member with us. We're talking about his life. We all know that being labeled a terrorist will eventually be a death sentence. Even if I get caught, I'm in a better position than he is. One of us has to make a potential sacrifice, Sam. You know that," Tim said.

Sam did know that. He knew that at least one of them had to take the risk. His only problem was who was doing the risking. He didn't feel right letting someone else do what he felt was his job. "I'll do it. G's my partner. It's up to me to have his back.

"But don't you see, that's exactly why it can't be you. You and Callen are closer than almost anyone I know. You're like brothers. Everyone who knows either of you knows that. The CIA will be watching you ten times as hard as they watch the rest of you. And you know you'd be saying the same thing to me if it were Kensi," Tim said. He did understand Sam's position. He would feel the same way if it were Kensi's life on the line.

"He's right. But that doesn't mean I want you doing this either, Tim. Callen may be Sam's partner, but you're mine. I already lost one partner. I don't want to lose another," Kensi said.

"Kensi, Callen is the reason I am who I am today. Don't get me wrong, all of you have been a major influence for me since I got here, but he was the one that gave me the courage to move on from Gibbs. He's the one who taught me how to be an agent. I owe him this much. And I'm in the best position to do it. I haven't been here that long. There are still those outside of this team that underestimate me. I can use that to my advantage. Besides, I don't plan to do any hacking or anything like that. I'll leave that to someone less likely to get caught than I am right now. You know this is the only way, Sam," he said.

Sam sighed. "That don't mean I gotta like it. Alright, I won't stop you. But you still gotta get by Hetty."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"So you expect me to believe that on the day we find out Mr. Callen has been arrested by the CIA, you want take a vacation to visit your sister?" Hetty asked more than a little bit skeptically from her desk.

"Well, it has been a while since I've seen Sarah. I think I'm due," Tim said. He knew of course that Hetty wasn't buying any of this, but he wanted to give her plausible deniability, so he would stick to his story.

"Mr. McGee, are you under the impression that I took stupid pills this morning?" Hetty asked.

Tim smiled. "Of course not, Hetty. But really, I'm just heading to DC to see Sarah."

"Oh, I have no doubt that half of that statement is true. Your going to Washington DC doesn't' surprise me in the least, as that is probably where Mr. Callen is being held," Hetty said.

"You think so?" Tim asked in mock surprise.

"Let's cut the stupid act, shall we? It doesn't suit you. Now you're insane if you think if you think I'm going to let you go across country to get yourself fired and arrested. Mr. Callen would ready to smack you until you saw sense if he were here," Hetty said.

Tim sighed. He decided to end the charade. "Someone has to do something, Hetty. And I know that you don't want to let this go any more than the rest of us. I also know that you know that your hands are tied. They'll be watching you even more than they would Sam. I'm in the best position to do something."

"And if I don't?" Hetty asked.

Tim smirked. "Well, then I guess I'm just going to have to take a page out of your playbook. You were willing to resign your position not too long ago and flee to Romania to protect Callen. I'm prepared to do the same."

"It's a suicide mission," Hetty said.

"It's one I'm willing to take," Tim said.

Hetty looked at him for a minute before signing his request for leave. "I sincerely hope I don't regret this. But If I do, rest assured, I will make sure you regret it as well."

Tim chuckled. "I have no doubt of that."

"Bring him back," she said before giving him the form.

Tim took the form. "I will. One way or another."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim quickly packed the things he would need to take with him from his desk before going over to Sam and Kensi who were standing a few feet away. "I'm not going to be able to call. You both know that."

Sam nodded. "It's okay. You I trust. I don't trust the idiots you're asking for help, but I trust you. You'll bring him back. Just make sure to bring yourself back too."

"I'll do my best," Tim promised. The two men then clasped hands before sharing a one armed hug.

Kensi crossed her arms when Tim finished with Sam and turned to her. "If you make me break in another partner, I'm gonna kill you."

Tim chuckled and then hugged her. "I'm gonna miss you too, Kens."

Kensi hugged him back quickly and then let go. "Be careful. I don't want to get Callen back just to lose you."

"I'm always careful. I'll see you guys later," Tim said before walking away.


	4. Chapter 4

Gibbs was currently in his basement working on one of his many wood working projects. It was what he spent most of his time doing since leaving NCIS.

Gibbs soon heard someone from upstairs. He sighed, figuring that it was Abby once again trying to persuade him to return. She tried that every once and a while. It never worked. It wasn't that he didn't want to go back. He couldn't. He'd done the one thing he promised himself he would never do. He failed his people. There was no going back from that.

Gibbs listened as whoever it was started down the basement steps. He didn't even look to see who it was before speaking. "Might as well turn around right now, Abby. I'm not coming back no matter how much you ask me to."

"Well, you can't blame her for trying."

Gibbs' head shot up at the familiar, yet shocking voice. He looked over to see the last person he ever expected to willingly show up at his house. Timothy McGee.

"After all, it wouldn't be the first time you said that," Tim continued.

"McGee?" Gibbs asked in shock.

"You're surprised to see me. That's understandable I guess. I mean, if anyone had told me I would be here a couple of days ago, I would've laughed hysterically in their faces," Tim said.

"Why are you?" Gibbs asked.

Tim sucked in a breath and said something he'd hoped never to say in his life. "Because I need your help. Well, actually a friend of mine needs your help. I was once your friend too, so I'm hoping you'll be willing."

"Callen?" Gibbs asked. He figured it had to be Callen. He was the only one that fit that description.

Tim nodded and walked further into the room. "Callen's been arrested by the CIA."

"What the hell did he do to the CIA," Gibbs asked as he put his tools down.

"He didn't do anything! He's being set up!" Tim growled at his former boss.

Gibbs put his hands up in surrender. "Alright. What was he arrested for?"

"Terrorism," Tim said softly.

"Callen?" Gibbs said in complete disbelief. That was the most outrageous thing he'd ever heard. There was no one more committed to protecting the country than G Callen. The idea of him plotting against it was beyond absurd.

"Yeah, my sentiments exactly. Callen is no traitor. There's no way he would aid in any attacks on this country. The problem is, all the CIA has to do is say he is one and they can fry him. As a terrorist, he won't get a trial or a lawyer. He will be presumed guilty, imprisoned, and eventually executed. It'll be a cold day in hell before I let that happen," Tim said firmly.

"Okay, so all you have to do is prove he didn't do it. Even for terrorism, they have to have some evidence. Find out what they have and prove it false," Gibbs said.

"If I could do that, do you really think I'd be here dealing with you right now?" Tim snapped. Needless to say, he was on edge. As if Callen's situation wasn't enough, he was forced to deal with someone he vowed never to have to deal with again. But he would suck it up for Callen. He had to. "There is a restraining order keeping anyone from NCIS from going anywhere near this case, even Vance. The only reason I even know what Callen's been charged with is because I asked my father to use his contacts in the CIA."

"CIA already knows he didn't do it," Gibbs said. It was the only thing that made sense. They wouldn't go so far as to get a court order keeping NCIS away unless if they thought what they did was above reproach.

"That's what I'm thinking. Unfortunately, I have no way to prove it because the moment I attempt to try, I'll be sacked and arrested," Tim said.

"But I'm not with NCIS anymore, which means the court order doesn't apply to me," Gibbs said as he realized why Tim had come to him.

"If I thought I could do it myself and not get caught until Callen was free and clear, I'd do it, but I know that's impossible. I need somebody on the outside to do all the heavy lifting," Tim said.

"I don't know what you expect me to be able to do. My guess is that this is going to take some heavy computer stuff. We both know that's not exactly my forte," Gibbs said.

"But once we have the information we need, you can follow the evidence. Also, you might be able to get in to see Callen while I can't. As for the computer stuff, we both know someone who is good with that kind of thing," Tim said.

"Abby? She's still with NCIS," Gibbs reminded him.

"Yes, but she's not close with Callen. In fact, anyone who knows the history between me and the rest of your old team will have a hard time believing any of you would get involved, or that I would even ask you to. She'll be able to get around easier than I could," Tim explained.

"You want me to ask her to risk her career for this?" Gibbs asked. Himself he didn't have a problem with, but Abby was a different matter entirely. She had her entire life ahead of her. It wouldn't be fair to ask her to do this.

"Yes," Tim said matter-of-factly. "If I thought it would save Callen, I'd ask you to ask your own father to risk himself. I owe that man more than I've ever owed anyone. He helped me find my place in NCIS. You may have been my first boss in the field, but he was the one who taught me what I needed to be a good agent. He's the brother I never had. In many ways, I really do believe he saved my life. Now it's my turn to save him. I will risk anyone that I have to."

Gibbs cringed as a twinge of guilt hit him. He knew that he was the reason Callen had to do those things. If he hadn't let McGee down so grievously, Callen wouldn't have had to take the role he did with him. McGee might think he owed Callen, but Gibbs knew he owed McGee. "Okay. I'll ask her in the morning, but I won't push her if she says no."

"That's all I'm asking," Tim said.

"I also have a couple of people I can ask to try to get me in to see Callen. We used to be friends, so it wouldn't be that farfetched for the CIA to believe I'd want to see him," Gibbs said.

"Thank you. Alright, I'm gonna go. I need to go find a hotel," Tim said.

"You can stay here if you want," Gibbs said. He didn't expect the younger man to take him up on it, but he felt he owed it to him to at least offer it.

Tim snorted. Yeah, like that was going to happen. "Uh, thanks, but I think I'd rather sleep in the street. I'll be back tomorrow," he said before heading back up the stairs.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Tim made his way into Gibbs' house. He didn't bother knocking because, well, no one knocked when they wanted to see Gibbs. Everyone who knew him knew to just walk in if they wanted to see him.

Tim followed voices into the kitchen and saw Abby sitting there with Gibbs.

"What's the big deal, Gibbs? It's not like I haven't hacked into the CIA before," Abby said. She obviously wasn't too concerned with what she'd been asked to do.

"They weren't watching before," Tim spoke before Gibbs had the chance.

Abby turned to face him. "Oh, hey, Timmy. It's good to see you."

Tim ignored her comments and went on with his warning. He felt he had to at least warn of the consequences. He wasn't so heartless when it came to her that he would let her do this without his eyes wide open. "The CIA is waiting for someone to attempt what you'll be attempting. Now they'll be expecting it from myself or Eric, but if they find out it's you, make no mistake about it, Abby, your career will be over."

"He's right, Abs. Don't walk into this lightly. It's a big risk," Gibbs said.

"There's no risk too high to help a friend," Abby said as she smiled at Tim.

Tim bit his lip. He really just wanted to scream at Abby that he was not her friend and never would be again, but he wouldn't. He needed her help and he knew that if he went after her, she wouldn't give it. Gibbs had been different. He wasn't as selfish as Abby. He'd agreed to help because it was the right thing and because he'd been conditioned by guilt to some degree. Abby wasn't the same. "Thank you."

"I spoke to a couple people. I got the go ahead to see Callen this afternoon," Gibbs said.

Tim raised an eyebrow in surprise. "That was fast."

"Well, I've been working on it all night. Anything you want me to tell him?" Gibbs asked.

"Just find a way to let him now that no one's giving up. I'm sure I don't need to tell you not to drop any names," Tim said. The CIA would probably be monitoring any conversation Callen had with anyone. If Gibbs dropped his name, they would be finished before they even started.

"Nope," Gibbs said.

"One more thing. Do you know where Ziva's stationed now?" Tim asked. Ziva still had a lot of connections within Mossad. They could be useful in proving Callen's name. Mossad was familiar with several terrorist groups.

"Yeah, hang on," Gibbs said before heading into the living room, followed closely by Tim and Abby. He opened up a small drawer beside the couch and pulled out a piece of paper. He then handed it to Tim. "She's working as an agent afloat. That's the contact number for the ship she's on.

"Thanks. I'll be right back," Tim said before walking outside and taking out the prepaid phone he'd picked up at the airport before leaving LA. He didn't want to risk anyone tracing any calls he'd make.

Tim dialed the number Gibbs had given him waited until he heard a voice on the other end before speaking. "Yes, I need to speak with NCIS Agent Ziva David. Sure, you can have my name. Trent Kort," he said with a smirk when asked for his name. Kort ought to get a kick out of that one if he or his friends checked the Ziva angle.

Ziva's voice filled the phone a few minutes later and she did not seem too happy to be hearing from Trent Kort. _"What do you and the CIA want, Mr. Kort?"_

Tim chuckled. "It's not Kort, Ziva, it's McGee."

"_McGee? Why are you calling? And why did you say you were Trent Kort?" _Ziva asked.

"Because I couldn't give the captain my real name and I thought Kort would appreciate the irony of me using his name," Tim said smiling.

"_What do you mean?" _Ziva asked in confusion.

"I need your help, Ziva," Tim said seriously.

"_Anything. What do you need?"_ Ziva said immediately.

"You may want to hear what it is before you agree. It could be a career breaker, Ziva," Tim warned.

"_It is that serious?"_ Ziva asked.

"Yes. I used Kort's name for a reason. If you agree to help me and someone finds out we've spoken, it could be the end of both of us," Tim said seriously.

"_What happened?"_

"My boss has been arrested by the CIA. He's being charged with terrorism," Tim told her.

"_This is agent Callen, yes?" _Ziva asked.

"Yeah. He's being set up. Callen is not capable of betraying this country. I think the CIA is trying to make him their scapegoat. The problem is I can't prove it or even openly try to prove it because there is an order barring anyone from NCIS from investigating," he explained.

"_Making it a career breaker to investigate it,"_ Ziva finished for him. _"Alright, what do you want me to do?"_

"Are you sure?" Tim asked.

"_I failed you once, McGee. I will not do so again,"_ Ziva said firmly.

"Thank you. I'm hoping to have some more information regarding the terrorist group Callen is supposedly involved with by the end of the day. Now I know that Mossad has knowledge of more than a few of those groups," Tim said.

"_You are hoping I can ask my father to look into them and find evidence to prove your friend's innocence,"_ Ziva guessed.

"I'd appreciate it, yeah," Tim said.

"_Of course. I will contact my father immediately. When you have the information, send it to me and I will get it to Mossad," _Ziva told him.

"Thanks. And Ziva? Be careful," Tim said before hanging up and then heading back into the house.

"So are we gonna do this now?" Abby asked.

Tim took the bag he'd been carrying from his shoulder, opened it and took out a new laptop.

"I brought my own computer. Gibbs told me to," Abby said.

"Yeah, but that one can be traced back to you. I just picked this up this morning and paid cash. You're also not going to do this here. I don't want the CIA tracing a breech back to Gibbs' house. Take it to an internet café or some other Wi-Fi hotspot. And don't do anything until you get my text, okay?" Tim asked.

"And what are you gonna be doing in the meantime?" Gibbs wondered. He got the feeling McGee had some kind of plan up his sleeve while he was visiting Callen and Abby was hacking into the CIA mainframe.

"I'm going to go stalk the CIA," Tim said with a smirk before heading back outside the door.

Abby gawked at the spot Tim had just left. "Is he serious?"

Gibbs shrugged. "A few years ago I would've said no way, not without prompting. But after eighteen months under Callen, he just might have the balls,"


	6. Chapter 6

Gibbs was led into an interrogation room by a CIA agent. Callen was already there waiting. Both his hands were cuffed to the sides of the chair and it looked like his face had been rearranged quite a bit. Gibbs wasn't all that surprised by the fact. Nobody liked terrorists, and if there was even a single agent inside the building that believed Callen was guilty, they would take it out on him.

Callen waiting until the agent left before speaking. "You've gotta be kidding me. Out of everyone on the planet, I get you?"

"It's good to see you too, Callen," Gibbs said as he sat in the chair across from him. "You alright?"

"Oh, I'm just peachy. I've been arrested, beaten up, and treated like a traitor by people I used to consider friends. I don't even know what's going on with my team. I mean, is it just me or are they all locked in cells too?" Callen asked. Honestly that was what he was most worried about. He was worried for his friends more than himself.

"No, they're not," Gibbs assured him.

Callen breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that's something anyway."

"You know what you're being charged with, Callen?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah, I know. Kort took great pleasure in telling me. Apparently when I'm protecting the country from possible terrorist attacks, I'm helping to create them," Callen said bitterly. It was absolutely ridiculous. Out of all the things in the world he could be accused of, this was the least likely.

"Nobody who knows you thinks you did this," Gibbs said.

"Doesn't really matter, does it? I'm screwed," Callen said.

"Don't give up hope," Gibbs said.

Callen stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "I have been charged with terrorism. That means they can do whatever the hell they want to me and nobody can stop them. I don't even have the rights offered me by the Constitution. What hope did you see?"

"You're a good guy, Callen. Better than me. You're the type to fight for the people you care about and put them before yourself. People know they can count on you. That sparks a sense of loyalty that never goes away," Gibbs said. It was the best way he knew of telling Callen that he had someone fighting for him without dropping any big hints to the CIA. Sure, they could infer that someone from Callen's team might be trying to save him, but they couldn't prove anything.

Callen could tell immediately that Gibbs was trying to tell him something, but couldn't say the words. He'd known him long enough to know when he was doing that. He also had a good idea of what he was trying to say. He was trying to say that the people loyal to him had his back. The problem was he wasn't sure there was anything they could do for him. What could anyone possibly do to help him now?

"I'm one of those people, Callen? We were friends once. I know you don't consider me a friend anymore, but I consider you one. Now there's not much I can do with you given your current situation except for give you my loyalty and be a friend.

It was times like this that Callen remembered why he became friends with Gibbs in the first place. Gibbs had always been a loyal friend to those he considered worthy. It was just that he had a very narrow minded view of what made someone worthy, and if the person wasn't worthy in his eyes, they were nothing. And Callen couldn't justify being friends with someone like that. But right now he needed all the friends he could get. "Thank you."

Just then the agent that escorted Gibbs earlier came back in. "Time's up."

Gibbs stood up. "Remember what I said, Callen. Don't give up."

Callen nodded and then watched as Gibbs was escorted out.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim sat at a small table just outside a coffee shop with Ducky. "Thanks for meeting me, Ducky.

"Of course, lad. Not that I'm not happy to see you, but I get the feeling you have ulterior motives for wanting to have coffee," Ducky said.

"What makes you say that?" Tim asked coyly.

"Call it a gut instinct. It seems that Jethro has rubbed off on me over the years," Ducky said.

Tim chuckled. "Okay, yes, there is another reason I asked you here. And that reason just showed up."

Ducky followed Tim's gaze to just behind him where Trent Kort. "Mr. Kort? Is he following you?"

"No. I'm following him. Well, sort of. I have it on good authority that he comes here every day at around this time, so I decided to be here when he got here," Tim said before taking out his phone. He quickly gave Abby the go ahead via text message and then turned his attention back to Ducky.

"Why would you do that?" Ducky wondered.

Before Tim could answer, he noticed Kort coming his way with a smug look on his face. "Oh, hello, Mr. Kort. Fancy meeting you here," Tim said.

"What are you doing here, McGee? Besides breaking a court order?" Kort asked.

Tim frowned in mock confusion. "I'm breaking a court order? I don't remember any court order saying I can't have coffee."

Kort chuckled haughtly. "Cute. How stupid do you think I am? You expect me to believe you just happened to show up at the coffee shop I stop by every day?"

Tim ignored the question. "You know it's a bad idea to frequent the same coffee shop every day. That just makes it easier for your enemies to get to you. And a guy like has got to have a lot of enemies."

"I'll keep that in mind," Kort said sarcastically. "And now I'll remind you that it's a bad idea for you to involve yourself in this investigation."

"What investigation? Oh, you must be talking about you and your buddies railroading my boss. Now why would I involve myself in that? That could cost me my job," Tim said.

"Make no mistake that it will. You even try to circumvent my case and I will destroy you. Not like you can do much anyway. All you are is a glorified computer geek. Even Gibbs realized that," Kort said with a smirk.

Tim smiled inwardly. This was exactly what he wanted. Kort was underestimating him, just like many before him had done. It would cost him dearly. "Then I guess you have nothing to worry about."

Just then Kort's phone rang. He continued to stare at Tim for a minute before picking it up. "Kort. What?! Well, stop them, dammit!"

Tim smiled, knowing full well that Kort had just found out about a certain cyber-attack on the CIA's mainframe.

"Shut this person down! Do what you have to! I'm on way in," Kort said before hanging up and rushing off.

Ducky looked at Tim in astonishment. "What was that about?"

"You just helped provide me with an alibi," Tim said. That was his plan all along. Well, that and messing with Kort. He knew that once they found out about the hacking Abby was doing, he would be the one of the first people implicated. But now he had proof positive that he was nowhere near a computer at the time. Even if Kort lied, he couldn't get away with it because Ducky was a witness.

"An alibi for what?" Ducky asked.

Tim quickly explained the situation to Ducky, including that he'd asked Gibbs, Abby, and Ziva for help.

"So this little display was to make sure you weren't implicated in the hacking, even though you are responsible?" Ducky asked.

"That was part of it. I didn't want to have to use you like that, Ducky, but I needed a solid alibi. If it had just been me and Kort, he could've lied about seeing me here today," Tim said.

"What was the other part? You said the alibi was part of the reason for all this," Ducky said.

"Oh, I wanted to mess with Kort's head," Tim said matter-of-factly. "Kort's an arrogant son of a bitch. He thinks he has us all right where he wants us. He's soon going to find out what a mistake that line of thinking is.

"Are you sure that's wise? True, he won't be able to prove it, but I'm certain he will figure out that you are responsible for what transpired," Ducky said.

"True, but there's not much he can do about it, is there? He can't prove a damn thing," Tim said.

"What are you planning here, Timothy? Something tells me it goes beyond freeing Agent Callen," Ducky said.

"Oh, it does. Freeing Callen is part one, and the most important part, but it's not the only one. These sons of bitches have messed with the wrong people. They targeted an honorable NCIS agent. They called him a traitor. They don't get to do that and walk away," Tim said firmly.

"Are you talking about taking the CIA in its entirety?" Ducky asked in shock.

"No. I'm not that stupid. No, I'll settle for just those responsible for what's happening to Callen right now. And I'm going to start with Kort," Tim said. That smug bastard was done. He didn't care what it cost him or what he had to do. He was going to end Kort once and for all.


	7. Chapter 7

Tim made it back to Gibbs' house about an hour later. Abby and Gibbs were there waiting for him. "Hey, how'd it go?"

Abby shuddered a little. "It was a really close call. Just as I was finishing up, two guys and suits showed up."

"Please tell me you weren't seen," Tim begged. That was all that they needed. If Abby was seen and possibly followed, they were all screwed.

"No, I managed to slip out before they could see me. I'm not even sure they were CIA, but I figured it was better not to find out for sure," Abby said.

"Well, you were right. Did you get anything?" Tim asked.

Abby smirked. "Did I ever," she said before handing him the computer. "They apparently 'found' wire transfers between Callen and the terrorist group."

Tim quickly read through the information. It listed the terrorist group and the money transfers between them and Callen. "This is a croc. Even if Callen was the type to do something like this, he wouldn't be this stupid. There's no way he'd leave a paper trail like this."

"I agree. Callen is nothing if not smart," Gibbs said.

"Gibbs, do you have a printer?" Tim asked. It was probably a stupid question given that Gibbs and technology didn't mix, but he figured he'd ask anyway.

"Actually, I do. Don't ask me why, but someone decided to give me one as a gift. Actually, I think it was just to irritate me. It's stashed in the basement somewhere.

"We shouldn't need it anyway. I saved the information on the computer," Abby said.

"Yeah, but I'm wiping the hard drive as soon as I have a paper copy and then I'm destroying the computer," Tim said.

"Isn't that a bit much?" Abby asked. That seemed a little excessive than even this situation called for.

"Sometimes paranoia is a good thing, Abs. McGee's right. Better safe than sorry," Gibbs said before getting up and heading towards the basement.

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two remaining occupants of the room before Abby decided to break it. "So how have you been?"

"Fine," Tim said tightly without even looking at her. He was up for the uncomfortable small talk. Honestly if it didn't have to do with the investigation, he would prefer they didn't talk at all.

"That's good. Things have gotten a little dicey with us around the office since Gibbs left. Our new boss is seriously strict. Not the way Gibbs was either. He's like a total control freak. Tony and I played this harmless joke on Berk and he totally…"

"Abby!" Tim exploded. He simply could not take it anymore. He could not sit there and listen to her talk to him as he'd never left. "Look, I'm grateful for your help, I really am, but I don't care about your petty problems. We're not friends. You can't just talk to me like you used to."

"But you came to us for help. I thought that meant…"

"You thought it meant what? That all was forgiven? I didn't come to you because we were friends. I came to you because I was desperate. I couldn't ask my friends for help because that would be expected of me. We would've been busted before we even started. I came to you because no one in their right minds would believe that I would. I hardly believe it. Swallowing my pride to come to you was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I did it for Callen and Callen alone. I did it because he would do the same for me.

Just then, Gibbs came in carrying a box. "Got it. I don't think I need to tell you you have to hook it up though."

"No, I got it," Tim said as he got up and took the box from Gibbs. He immediately started opening the box. "So did you see him?"

Gibbs had no problem figuring who Tim was talking about. "Yeah. Not for long though. They kicked me out in about fifteen minutes."

"How is he? Is he okay?" Tim asked with concern.

"Yeah, he's fine," Gibbs said. He decided to leave out what the fact that Callen had been roughed up. There was no reason to worry him with that information.

Tim stopped what he was doing and narrowed his eyes at his former boss. He knew immediately that the man was holding something back. "Don't lie to me. I don't need your protection, Gibbs, not anymore. And frankly, it's a little late for you to try to give it."

Gibbs sighed. "You're right. Okay, he um… Well, you know how terrorists are treated."

"How bad?" Tim asked.

"I've seen worse. They rearranged his face a bit, but he seemed to be holding up alright. He was more worried about you all than anything else," Gibbs said.

"Us?" Tim asked in surprise as he pulled the printer out and began hooking it up. He couldn't' see why Callen would be worrying over them. He was the one that was in trouble.

Gibbs nodded. "He wasn't sure if it was just him or if your entire team had been taken out. He knows now though that it's just him. I made sure he also knows that he's not alone. He knows that there are those working to save him, but he doesn't know it's the three of us."

"Good," Tim said before grabbing the computer and began installing the printer software onto it.

"So what's next?" Abby asked.

"Well, as soon as I get this stuff printed out, I'm going to my hands on a fax machine and get it to Ziva," Tim said. He would of course have to make sure Ziva was right next to the fax machine on the ship so that no one else would intercept it, but he didn't think that would be too much of a problem.

"Anything we can do?" Gibbs asked. It wasn't common that he was on this end of that question, but this one was McGee's. It was his teammate that was in jeopardy and he was the one that had the most to lose. Not to mention that he was the only technical NCIS agent involved.

"Yeah. Watch out for Trent Kort. He knows someone hacked into the system today and I'm pretty sure it won't be a big leap for him to guess that I'm responsible. I don't think he's smart enough to guess I'd come to you, but better safe than sorry," Tim said.

"What makes you think he knows it was you? He doesn't even know you're here, does he?" Gibbs asked.

"Oh, he knows. I told you I was stalking the CIA," Tim said.

"So you were serious about that?" Abby asked.

"Oh, yeah. He was standing right in front of me when he got the call. He didn't look happy."

"Why would you do that? That seems kind of stupid," Abby said.

"Actually, it's smart. He just gave himself an alibi. Even if Kort does think he's responsible, he can't do a damn thing," Gibbs said with a smirk.

"It's kind of hard to accuse someone of hacking when he's sitting right in front of you when said hacking was taking place," Tim said. He then hit the button to print his documents.

"But there is a good chance that Kort does know you're responsible. And that was exactly what you wanted," Gibbs said confidently.

Tim grabbed the papers as soon as they printed and stood up. "Let's just say that I have Kort exactly where I want him. And if all goes well, he'll be taking Callen's spot behind bars. Now I better get this to Ziva. I'll be back," he said before heading out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

Tim found himself in closest library to Gibbs' house. It was the only place he knew for sure would have a community fax machine. He'd already called Ziva to ensure that she would be a fax machine so that no one would intercept the documents he was sending.

Tim quickly looked around to make sure no one was paying him any special attention. He'd learned very early in the game that a healthy dose of paranoia served you well, especially in his line of work. Besides, it wasn't really paranoia when they really were out to get you, which they were.

After assuring that he was safe, Tim sent the documents. He then walked out of the library and took out his phone. He went through the channels to get Ziva on the phone and then spoke. "Hey, did you get it."

"_Not yet. Oh, wait, it is coming now. Do not worry, I will send them to my father immediately. He has already agreed to help," _Ziva said.

"Thanks, Ziva, I really appreciate this," Tim said.

"_Of course. Is there anything else I can do?"_ Ziva asked.

"Yeah, ask your father to look into Kort. Something tells me he is in this whole thing up to his eyeballs. Callen is his fall guy," Tim said.

"_Someone really does need to crash that little cockroach,"_ Ziva said.

Tim chuckled. "Crush, Ziva, not crash. And with your help and your father's, I'm hoping to do just that."

"_Same difference. Alright, well, I had better get all this to my father. I will call you when I have something," _Ziva said.

"No, I'll call you. This phone is being discarded as soon as I hang up," Tim said. He didn't need anyone accessing his call log if they happened to get ahold of the phone. He would pick up another phone later.

"_You are good at this," _Ziva said, sounding very impressed.

"Thanks. I better go," Tim said before hanging up. He immediately dropped the phone to the ground and stepped on it. He then picked up and threw it in a wastebasket nearby before heading for his car. He stopped dead in his tracks when he got there. Vance was leaned against the hood.

"You OSP guys are harder to find than needles in haystacks," Vance said.

"Director," Tim said simply.

Vance stood up straight and walked over to him. "I spent the last day and a half looking for you, McGee. See, when I checked in with your team yesterday afternoon to make sure my orders were being followed, you were nowhere to be found."

"Well, I had some unused vacation time, sir. I decided to take it. I decided to come see my sister," Tim lied.

Vance shook his head in disbelief. "It's amazing how much better you are at lying now, McGee. You wouldn't have been able to say that with a straight face two years ago."

"I don't know what you're talking about, sir," Tim lied again. Once again he managed to do it while sounding like it was nothing but the truth.

Vance ignored him. "You know, I knew you'd do better with OSP. I knew you'd find yourself and come out of your shell with Callen and Hetty there to steer you in the right direction. What I didn't consider was that you'd become such a pain in my ass!"

Tim resisted the urge to laugh, an act that proved very difficult.

"I made myself very clear to Hetty and I know she made it clear to you. No one from NCIS is to investigate this case," Vance said sternly.

"Who's investigating? I'm just taking a vacation," Tim said.

"If you keep going the way you are, you may be taking a permanent vacation. Trent Kort was in my office today. Apparently someone hacked into the CIA and retrieved information about Agent Callen's predicament," Vance said.

"I'm not sure what that has to do with me. I certainly didn't do it," Tim said truthfully.

"Oh, I know. Kort was sure you were responsible. He wanted me to bring you in. Unfortunately for him, Doctor Mallard happened to walk in at that moment and explained that that simply wasn't possible because you were with both him and Kort when the break-in occurred. That's how I found you by the way. I figured if you were willing to go to one member of your old team, you'd probably go to others as well. I followed you from Gibbs', which believe me was a chore with how you went in circles trying to avoid a tail," Vance said.

Tim shrugged. "Well, I figured it was time Gibbs and I buried the hatchet. I thought maybe we could do some male bonding.

Vance snorted at the very idea, but his face remained serious. "You're playing a very dangerous game here, McGee."

"Sir, if I was playing such a game, which I'm not saying I am, I didn't start it," Tim said.

"But you're gonna finish it. Is that right?" Vance asked.

"I didn't say that," Tim said, though it was certainly his intention to imply it.

Vance sighed. "The CIA traced the connection to an internet café here in DC, but the time they got there, the hacker was gone."

"Bully for them," Tim said without one trace of sympathy in his voice.

"I could end this, you know? I could send your ass right back to LA right now," Vance told him.

Tim didn't say a word. He did know that though. He knew Vance had the authority to revoke his 'vacation' and send him back to work. Even if he did though, that wouldn't stop him. It was like he told Hetty, he'd quit if he had to. He'd do whatever it took to save Callen.

"But I don't like it when people come after my agents, even if they are technically supposed to be on our side. Now I don't know what Callen is accused of doing, but from the way Kort was acting, I doubt he's guilty. Now like I said, this is a dangerous game you're playing, and if you lose, I won't be able to help you," Vance warned.

Tim nodded. "Understood, sir."

Vance looked at him once more and then walked away.


	9. Chapter 9

Gibbs entered his kitchen the next day for more coffee and saw Abby at the counter. "Abs, what are you doing here?"

"I came to help Timmy," Abby said as though it were obvious

"He's not here, Abs. And you should be heading to NCIS now. I'm sure you've been missed there," Gibbs said.

"But what if Timmy needs me again," Abby protested.

"Then I'll call ya. Besides, I doubt he's gonna wanna risk anymore hacking. It was a one shot deal. I think your part here is done," Gibbs said.

"Well, I should stay just in case," Abby insisted.

"No, you shouldn't. By staying here and not being at work, you're drawing more attention to yourself, and by extension, McGee. Now what's really going on? Why do you really want to stay?" Gibbs asked. He knew something else was going on besides just wanting to help McGee. He always knew when Abby was trying to hide something.

"I just want to help, Timmy," Abby said.

"In hopes of what? That maybe he'll look at you the way he used to?" Gibbs asked knowingly.

Abby shifted uncomfortably. "I just wish he'd stop hating me."

"And you think if you stay here and make yourself available that'll happen? Is that why you agreed to help in the first place?" Gibbs asked. He sincerely hoped that wasn't the reason. He hoped she'd agreed to help because it was the right thing.

"No. Well, maybe a little. I wanted him to be my friend again, but I also knew it was the right thing to do," Abby said.

Gibbs decided not to ask her what motive was stronger. He wasn't sure he really wanted to know. "And you thought that doing him one decent turn would make him your friend again. It's one good act compared to seven years of crappy ones. It doesn't really compare, Abs."

"But he's forgiven Ziva, and he seems to like you better too," Abby said.

"I think 'like' is too strong a word. I think the word you're looking for is 'tolerate'. And the reason he might tolerate me a little more than you could be because I actually apologized. I admitted I was wrong. Have you?" Gibbs asked. He had no delusions of forgiveness for what he did, but he liked to hope that being remorseful made some kind of difference to Tim. Even if it was just that he hated him a little less.

Abby bit her lip. "I never meant to hurt him."

"But you did. We all did. It's taken me over a year to accept that fact, but I have. Have you?" Gibbs asked. He honestly wasn't sure she had. Abby hadn't once mentioned being sorry for the way she treated McGee. She mentioned not meaning to hurt him and wanting him to be her friend, but she never said she was sorry for the way she treated him.

"It wasn't that bad, Gibbs. It was just a few jokes," Abby said.

"Who are you to decide that? You weren't the one on the receiving end of those 'jokes'. They may have seemed like jokes to you and DiNozzo, but they weren't to him. You know, I thought they were just jokes too. I hung onto that notion for years, even after he was gone. It wasn't until Callen and his team came here that my perfect world started to unravel. Still, I tried to deny it. I wouldn't admit the truth until it was impossible for me to deny it," Gibbs said.

"But he never said anything before. He never seemed like he minded," Abby said.

"Why would he? All it would've done was open him up to more grief. I wouldn't have listened to him and neither would you," Gibbs said. As much as he wished he could say otherwise, he knew that he would've just made a mockery of McGee's suffering with them. And he knew that because that was exactly what he did when Vance brought it to his attention. "The thing is Callen did. He listened to McGee. He listened and he understood."

Abby folded her arms and pouted. "He turned him against us."

Gibbs glared at her. "You gotta stop clinging to that delusion. Nobody turned McGee against you but you. You are the one that treated him like trash whenever he didn't do things your way, which wasn't very often because he knew the crap he would be open to if he didn't succumb to your every whim. Now don't get me wrong, you didn't do it alone, but you have to own up to your part. You and DiNozzo both."

"So you think I should apologize? What happened to rule six?" Abby asked.

"It went out the window with every other rule I broke with McGee. And no, Abby, I don't think you should apologize. Apologizing is something you do when you know you've screwed up and you want to make amends. You don't want to make amends," Gibbs said knowingly. Abby wasn't sorry for what she did. She didn't even think she'd done anything wrong.

"That's not true," Abby denied.

"Yeah, it is. You don't want to make amends. You're not sorry. You just want to do whatever you think will get McGee to be to you what he used to. It won't work. First of all, he'll see right through it. He's not who he used to be, Abby. He's been taught to know when he's being lied to. He'll see it and all it'll do is piss him off. And even if you did mean it, it wouldn't give you what you're looking for. It won't give you any kind of relationship with him again," Gibbs told her.

"Than what would?" Abby asked.

"Nothing," Gibbs said simply. "The way we treated McGee was horrible, and we all had to pay a price for it. That price was losing his friendship and loyalty, and in my case, losing Callen's as well. We're not gonna get it back. He may forgive us one day, but he'll see us as anything other than the people that hurt him."

"Then why did you apologize?" Abby asked.

Gibbs sighed in exasperation. "Because I was wrong! Because I betrayed an agent under my command and I wanted him to know that I was sorry. And because I thought that maybe he could take away some kind of peace from it."

Just then they both heard the door open. They immediately walked into the living room just in time to see Tim walk in and close the door behind him. "Hey. Any word from Ziva?" Gibbs asked.

"I spoke to her a couple hours ago. She got the information to Mossad. It's probably gonna take a while before they know anything. In the meantime, I wanna go through Callen's financials. There's gotta be something in there that proves he didn't make those transactions," Tim said.

"CIA is gonna have those records sealed tight. They'll know the second we try to access them. Look, just wait and see what David finds out," Gibbs said in frustration.

"I can't just sit here and do nothing!" Tim yelled in frustration. Needless to say, he was getting antsy. Callen had been locked up for days. He'd been beaten up at least once that Tim knew about. He had to do something to help.

Gibbs was about to say something when his cellphone range. He immediately grabbed it and answered it. "Yeah, Gibbs. What? Who the hell wants to know?"

Tim looked up at his ex-boss in suspicion. Who was Gibbs talking to and why had he suddenly become agitated.

"I don't know who the hell you are, but if you're looking for McGee, I suggest you call him," Gibbs said.

Tim held his hand out for the phone. Whoever it was obviously knew he was there and they weren't going to give up. Besides, even if it was Kort, he couldn't prove anything. There was no court order saying he couldn't see Gibbs. He would prefer Kort not know he was there, but it wasn't mandatory.

Gibbs hesitated for a minute, but eventually did relinquish his phone.

Tim put the phone to his ear. "This is McGee. Who's this?" He listened as a familiar male voice spoke and he laughed. "You've got to be kidding me? How did you find me? Uh huh. Sure you do. Where are you? For you to call me now while all this stuff is going on with Callen, you've gotta be in DC. Tell me where you are. I'll come meet you. Okay, I'll be right there," he said before hanging up.

"Who was that?" Abby asked curiously.

"A friend," Tim said before handing Gibbs his phone and walking out the door without another word.


	10. Chapter 10

Tim made his way down the hall of a local hotel. He stopped about halfway down and knocked. The door was opened seconds later by Doctor Nate Getz. "Hey, Doc."

"Hey, Tim. It's good to see you," Nate said before shaking his hand.

Tim walked inside. "I assume you know everything."

Nate closed the door behind him. "You mean that Callen has been arrested and the CIA is actively obstructing the rest of you? Yeah, I know. I also know you've been working with your old team. You had to be pretty desperate for that."

Tim nodded and sat down at the small table by the bed. "So how'd you find me? Sam or Kensi tell you?"

"Are you kidding?" Nate asked as he sat down across from him. "The whole team is under a microscope right now. They can't even go to a coffee shop without the CIA knowing it. Hetty gave me a call, and she was only able to do that undetected because... Well, she's Hetty," Nate said as though it explained everything, which it did.

Tim laughed. "Yeah, that pretty much says it all, doesn't it? If anyone can get past the CIA it's her."

"Well, you managed too," Nate pointed out.

"That's because Trent Kort is an arrogant bastard and he underestimated me," Tim said.

"People really should stop doing that. It never ends well for them," Nate said. He'd seen quite a few people underestimate Tim. They ended up regretting it every time.

"Well, it works for me. Because Kort underestimated me, I was able to get information I wouldn't have been able to otherwise," Tim said with a smirk.

"Such as?" Nate asked.

"The CIA has a paper trail between Callen and the terrorist group. I've got Ziva working on it with her father. Hopefully she'll have the proof to exonerate him soon" Tim said. He believed that Ziva and her father would get the information to free Callen. The issue he was having was doing nothing to free his friend in the meantime. He just wished he could do something.

"That's ridiculous. Even if Callen were capable of betraying his Country, which he's not, he's not stupid enough to leave a trail," Nate said.

"Of course not. He's being set up. Care to take a guess on who I think is doing it?" Tim asked.

Nate sighed. "CIA." It was pretty obvious what Tim thought. Hell, he even thought it. Why else would the Agency try to keep NCIS out of it? They were trying to hide something. The question was why would they do something like that?

Tim nodded. "Yeah. More specifically Kort and his band of low lives. Either he did something to piss them off or they're the ones involved with terrorists and they want to make Callen their fall guy. I personally think it's the latter."

"Okay, Don't take this the wrong way, Tim, but isn't that a bit farfetched?" Nate asked. It wasn't that he didn't trust Tim's instincts because he did. It was just that he found it hard to believe the CIA would actually get involved with terrorists.

Tim shook his head. "You don't know Kort like I do. He's as shady as they come. He doesn't follow the rules. He's more than capable of it, Nate."

Nate was silent for a minute. He then leaned forward and looked at Tim seriously. "If you're right, it could turn the Agency upside down. A CIA operative involved with terrorists? Nobody would ever trust them again."

"It's better than the alternative," Tim said. The alternative was members of their own government betraying them over and over again. That would be even worse for the entire Country.

"Agreed, but the CIA will never let it see the light of day. Even if you do exonerate Callen, the CIA will find another way to keep it under wraps," Nate said.

"There's no way in hell I will let that happen," Tim said firmly.

Nate shifted uncomfortably. He knew that look. He'd seen it often in Tim before. It was determination. In most cases, it made him a damn good agent, but sometimes determination could be dangerous, especially when it involved the CIA. "Tim..."

"No, Nate! There's no way in hell I'm going to let Kort and his cronies get away with this," Tim said. He'd already promised himself that Kort would pay for what he did and he intended to keep that promise.

"Tim, I know you think you owe Callen, but he would not want you to risk yourself like this out of revenge for him," Nate told him.

"I don't _think_ I owe, Callen, Nate, I do owe him. But that's not what this is about. You're right, I could just let this end with Callen's exoneration and he would be okay with that. Hell, it's what he'd want, but I won't do that. This is about more than just Callen. Kort went too far this time. He came after one of ours! He targeted a decorated NCIS agent and thought he could get away with it. Now I'm going to make sure that he and everyone else knows that that was a grave miscalculation," Tim said seriously. He considered himself to be a pretty easy going person, unless his old team was involved anyway, but he was also very passionate about his job and those he worked with. Nobody targeted them and got away with it. Everyone involved would pay for what they did.

"You're talking about taking on the CIA. That's a big deal, Tim," Nate said seriously.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told Vance just yesterday. I didn't start this, they did. They did this by coming after Callen. As far as I'm concerned, they declared war. I wouldn't be the agent Callen taught me to be if I just ignored that," Tim said.

"Somehow I doubt Callen will see it that way," Nate said.

"Doesn't matter. Like I said, it's not just about him anymore. It's the principle of the whole thing. If we let Kort get away with doing this, who knows what he'll come up with next? I have to stop him," Tim said firmly.

Nate sighed. "And do you have a plan for how to do it?" Nate asked.

Tim smiled. "Of course I do. But you're right about one thing, Callen would never go for it. That's why he's not going to find out until it's too late. And for that, I need your help."


	11. Chapter 11

Tim was currently in his hotel room. It had been three days since Abby had hacked into the CIA and he had gotten the information to Ziva. To say that he was getting a bit antsy was an understatement. He'd spoken to Ziva at least twice a day since then. It got to the point where she'd demanded his temporary cellphone number and told him she'd call when she knew anything.

The time did give Tim the chance to start putting his plan for Kort into motion though. Nate wasn't really that happy about his plan. He didn't like it one bit. In fact, he spent nearly an hour pointing out all the flaws in it. But when Tim made it clear he wasn't going to change his mind, he'd finally relented and agreed to help.

Speaking of Nate, he chose that moment to walk through the door. "Hey. Any word?"

"No, not yet. I guess it takes a while to prove someone isn't a terrorist. Listen, you know I have to put things into gear the second I get the call that Callen is in the clear, right?" Tim asked. He had to do it that way. He had to have things started by the time Callen was released. If Callen knew what he was planning, he would try to stop him.

Nate sighed. "Are you sure about this?"

"What else would you have me do, Nate? Let Kort get away with what he did? I can't and I won't do that," Tim said firmly.

"This has the potential to end bloody either way," Nate said.

Tim shrugged. "War is bloody. And that's what this is. It became war the second Kort decided to call Callen a terrorist. He can't just be allowed to do that."

"I just want to make sure you've thought this through. One way or another, it could end you," Nate said seriously.

"I take that risk every day. Every time I go undercover, there's a risk of me not coming back. Yes, the stakes are higher this time, but it's not going to stop me anymore than it does any other time," he said.

"But every other time, you have backup. You won't this time. You're playing blind and you have no recourse, no out if it blows up in your face," Nate said.

"Like I said, higher stakes. Look, Hetty and Vance would never back this mission. They would never agree to take on the CIA," Tim said. Not that he blamed them. The CIA had much more resources than they did and they weren't afraid to play dirty.

"There's a good reason for that. Look, I'm begging you, think this through," Nate said.

Tim was about to speak when his phone rang. He immediately answered it. "This is McGee."

"_McGee, it is Ziva."_

"Ziva, please tell me you have good news for me," Tim said.

"_I have news, but I do not believe I would call it good,"_ Ziva said.

"You weren't able to clear Callen?" Tim asked dejectedly. He had really hoped that Ziva and her father could undo Kort's damage. He was sure they'd be able to. Callen was innocent and Mossad had the resources to prove it.

"_No, we were able to do that. My father was able to prove that Agent Callen was framed," _Ziva said.

"He was? That's great! What's the problem?" Tim asked. That seemed like good news to him. Callen was coming home and Tim could move forward with his plan.

"_The problem is according the evidence my father came across, the person who framed him was you,"_ Ziva said.

Tim's mouth slowly formed an 'o' shape as he took in what she was telling him. He couldn't even speak he was so shocked. This was too much. First Callen, now him? What the hell did Kort think he was doing?

After the shock wore off, Tim was left with determination. If Kort thought he was going to lie back and play dead, he had another thing coming. This did not change a damn thing for him. If anything, Kort had just made it that much easier for his plan to succeed. He had planned to present himself as a terrorist to get Kort. He wouldn't have to lie about it now. According to the evidence, he was one.

"_McGee, say something,"_ Ziva said.

Tim finally found his voice again. "How long do I have?"

Ziva sighed on the other end. _"I do not believe that Kort is planning to use this against you. I think this is just his way of sealing you into a corner."_

"Box. He's _boxing_ me into a corner," Tim corrected.

"_Whatever. The point is, he is hoping that by framing you for framing Callen that you will back off in your attempt to exonerate Callen. Look, no one is giving up. We will just have to wait a little while before getting Callen released."_

"No," Tim said simply. There was no way in hell he was going to let Callen spend another day in that hellhole if it was in his power to get him out. Besides, he had no intention of switching places with him.

"_What?_" Ziva asked as if she's misheard him.

"You heard me. Callen is going home tonight. I want you to send everything you have to Vance," Tim said.

"_McGee… Tim, you will go to prison,"_ Ziva said.

"The hell I will! I have no intention of letting Kort make me his next scapegoat. Just as I have no intention of letting him beat me. If Kort thinks he can stop me by pulling this, he's got another thing coming. All he has done is made me that more determined to end him. Send everything, Ziva," Tim told her again.

"_I cannot aid in you being charged with terrorism," _Ziva said.

"Yes, you can and you will. You owe me, Ziva. This is what I want from you, Ziva. Send the evidence. I'll take care of the rest," Tim said before hanging up.

"That the hell is going on?" Nate asked as soon as Tim hung up. He was able to gather from the one-sided conversation he heard that while Callen was going to be exonerated, there was another problem.

"That conversation we were just having is immaterial now. Kort just took the decision out of my hands. He's setting me up now instead of Callen," Tim said.

"What?" Nate asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. According to what Ziva's father was able to uncover, I'm the one setting Callen up," Tim said.

"His thinking being that you'll never sacrifice yourself for Callen," Nate realized.

Tim nodded. "Another miscalculation on his part. Callen's not staying in jail and I'm not going either. I just have to be gone before Vance gets the information to free Callen, which was the plan anyway. I need something from you though and you're not going to like it."

"I don't like anything about this," Nate said. This whole situation was terrible. Two of his friends had been accused of the worst crime imaginable and neither one was guilty.

"I need you to convince people that you think I'm guilty," Tim said.

Nate looked at him like he had two heads. "Why don't I just go jump off the roof right now. It'll probably be less painful than what Sam and Callen will do to me if they hear me even suggest such a thing."

"It's the only way, Nate. You've been helping me. You're the reason I'm going to get away without being detected. The only way for you to stay clean is to claim that I tricked you," Tim explained. He would not let Nate go to jail for him, not anymore than he'd let Callen stay there for him.

Nate shook his head. "I don't like this."

"I know, but it's necessary. Trust me, things will be alright. I'll make sure of it. Now I better get ready to go. I need to be gone before anyone knows I'm being framed."

Nate nodded. "Be careful."

"You too," Tim said.

Nate looked at him once more and walked out of the room.


	12. Chapter 12

Gibbs was in his basement once again working on one of his projects when his phone rang. He immediately picked it up and answered it. "Yeah, Gibbs."

"_Gibbs, it is Ziva. I need your advice. I have found myself in a fickle," _Ziva said.

"Pickle, Ziva. What's the problem?" Gibbs asked. Whatever it was, he had a feeling it had to do with McGee and Callen.

Ziva quickly explained the situation, causing Gibbs' face to contort with rage. "That's crap!" he yelled angrily. Like hell McGee would work with terrorists, and he certainly wouldn't betray Callen. In fact, working with terrorists was more plausible than him betraying Callen.

"_My sentiments exactly, but it is what my father found. He cannot seem to find anything to prove that someone else has been framing Agent Callen and now him. I tried to convince McGee to delay exonerating Agent Callen, but…"_

"But he won't hear of it," Gibbs finished for her. He wasn't surprised. McGee was fiercely loyal to Callen. He would not allow him to stay locked up simply because his head was now on the chopping block.

"_Exactly! I do not know what to do, Gibbs. McGee wants me to send the evidence to Vance in order to exonerate Callen, but if I do that, I'm sentencing McGee to death,"_ Ziva said. While Tim had told her he did not intend to go down for this, she wasn't sure how he could avoid it with all the evidence against him.

Gibbs couldn't deny that she was right about that. If McGee was charged with terrorism and not exonerated in time, he would eventually either be executed or shipped off to some other country where he would likely be tortured and killed. However, McGee was too smart to let that happen to him. He was smarter than anyone, including Gibbs, had ever given him credit for. He would not let the slime balls at the CIA get their hands on him. "Do what he told you to do, Ziva."

"_What? Gibbs, did you not hear what I just said?"_ Ziva asked in disbelief.

"I heard you, but this is Tim's play. We have to back it," Gibbs said.

"_It is suicide," _Ziva said.

"I'm not so sure of that. Maybe it would be for any other agent, but not for him. He's not the same person who walked away from us a year and a half ago. He's thrived in OSP. He's become stronger and smarter than anyone ever gave him credit for. Well, everyone except for Callen and his team. He knows what he's doing," Gibbs assured her.

Ziva sighed at the other end. _"I hope you are right about this, Gibbs."_

"So do I, Ziva. So do I."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Nate walked into Tim's hotel room just as he'd finished packing. "I take it you're ready to go."

Tim picked up his bag. "I am if you have everything I need."

Nate handed him a manila envelope. "Passport and travel itinerary are all in there."

Tim chuckled as he took it. "I'm not even going to ask how you managed to get this stuff. So we're clear, right? You know what you're going to do?"

Nate nodded. "Get myself maimed, tortured, and killed by 'betraying' you," Nate said. That's exactly how Sam, Callen, and Kensi would see it too. They would consider his belief that Tim was guilty as a betrayal. And if he really believed it, it would be.

"It's better than being charged as an accessory, isn't it?' Tim asked.

"Honesty, I'm not sure. I kind of think it might be safer to go to prison," Nate said. He was dead serious too. A jail cell was nothing compared to the wrath of the rest of the team. Callen and Sam would crucify him for this, and then Kensi would rip apart what was left of him.

"Okay, you have a good point, but I need you out of prison. You're the only one who will be safe enough to know where I am and what I'm doing. The others will be watched," Tim said.

"Whereas I won't be because why bother watching someone who believes you're guilty," Nate finished for him. He did understand the logic. He just hated that he had to say he thought Tim was guilty. He would hate even without the physical danger he was bound to be in. The idea of saying such things about someone he considered a friend made him sick. "Still, I don't know how much help I'll be to you if I'm dead."

Tim chuckled. "Don't be ridiculous, Nate. They won't kill you. They might torture you a little."

Nate scowled. "Don't even joke about that! Because it's probably true."

Tim continued to grin before getting serious. "I better go. It won't be long now before Vance receives the evidence from Ziva, if he hasn't already. I need to get out of dodge."

Nate nodded and held out his hand. "Be careful."

Tim shook his friend's hand quickly. "Hopefully I'll see you soon, Nate," he said before walking out the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Vance was in his office staring at the documentation Eli David had faxed over. He had been looking at it for nearly an hour as if he somehow expected it say something else. No such luck. According to this, McGee was the terrorist, not Callen.

Vance knew that everything he was reading was crap. McGee was no more a terrorist than Callen. McGee being guilty of this didn't even make any logical sense. If he had been the one to frame Callen, why would he work so hard to exonerate him? Though it didn't really matter. No one was going to care about logic. All they were going to see was the evidence that linked McGee to Callen's framing, thus making him the agent to betray his country.

Vance sighed and picked up his phone. He couldn't put it off any longer. He had to make the call to get an order for Callen's release. And McGee's arrest."


	13. Chapter 13

Gibbs made his way through NCIS to Vance's office. His former boss had called him and asked him to come in. He hadn't explained why, but Gibbs had a good idea of the answer. He was sure to have gotten the evidence of McGee's 'guilt' by now and needed help finding the younger man.

Gibbs walked right passed Vance's assistant and burst right into Vance's office. "You wanted to see me, Leon?"

"You know, I would think you would at least bother to knock now that you don't work here anymore," Vance commented.

Gibbs ignored his comment. "What do you want, Leon?"

Vance handed him the faxed information he'd gotten form Eli. "Take a look at this."

Gibbs took it and glanced at it. Once he realized that it had come from Mossad, he dropped it down on Vance's desk without even reading it. He didn't need to read it to know what it was. "No thanks. I don't usually read fiction."

"So you already know," Vance stated. He wasn't that surprised. McGee had been working with him and it was obvious that the only reason Eli was involved was because his daughter was. Agent David had probably called Gibbs when she realized her former teammate was being set up.

Gibbs just gave him one of his famous stares and refused to answer.

Vance sighed. "I don't really expect you to tell me if you do know, but I have to ask the question anyway. Do you know where McGee is?"

"You're right, Leon. I wouldn't tell you if I knew. But it just so happens that I don't. I'm the last person he would trust with his location," Gibbs said.

Vance nodded. He was actually relieved to hear it. He couldn't say it out loud, but he was glad McGee couldn't be found. He had no desire to arrest one of his best agents for something he didn't do.

"I assume Callen is going to be released," Gibbs said. The CIA couldn't hold Callen now, not with the evidence implicating McGee. They would have to let him go.

"The order has already been granted. He's on his way here now," Vance said.

"Good. He doesn't belong in jail, neither does McGee," Gibbs said.

"I'm aware of that, Gibbs, but there's nothing I can do about it. When McGee is found, I have no choice but to hand him over to the CIA," Vance said. He'd tried to make it so that McGee would stay within NCIS custody, but it was a no go. This was the CIA's case.

"I think we both know that McGee won't be found unless he wants to be found," Gibbs said. Tim was smart. He knew how to avoid getting caught. He'd gotten a flicker of that when he was avoiding them all getting caught digging by the CIA. "Have you told the rest of their team yet?"

Vance bit his lip. He certainly hadn't done that. That was not a conversation he was looking forward to. Hetty might be his subordinate and much smaller than him, but she was also very scary, especially when her people were involved. He did not want to be the one to tell her that another one of her agents was wanted by the CIA. She'd nearly bitten his head off when he told her about Callen.

Gibbs smirked. "Scared of a little old woman, Leon?"

Vance raised an eyebrow. "You're not?"

"I plead the Fifth," Gibbs said.

Just then Vance's phone rang. He immediately picked it up. "Yes? Alright, I'll be right down," he said before hanging up. "Callen's being brought up now."

Gibbs nodded and led the way out. They went downstairs and through the bullpen where they came across Tony.

"Boss, what are you doing here?" Tony asked.

"Not your boss anymore, Tony," Gibbs said.

"You'll always be my boss, Boss," Tony said.

Soon a tall bald headed man came over. "DiNozzo, I don't pay you to stand around all day! Get your ass back to work!"

"On it, sir," Tony said before going to his desk.

"Gibbs, this is Agent Nickles. Nickles, this is your predecessor, Gibbs," Vance introduced.

"So then you're responsible for that," Nickles said irritably as he pointed to Tony.

Gibbs was saved from answering when they all heard the elevator ding, indicating that Callen had arrived.

"Excuse us," Vance said before he and Gibbs quickly made it to the elevator in time to see Kort come off the elevator. Callen was behind him being escorted by two other agents. He was still handcuffed, much to Vance's irritation. "Let him go."

"Not so fast. I want McGee first," Kort said.

Callen's head snapped up in shock. "What? No freaking way! You're not getting Tim. If this is some kind of trade or something, you can forget it! You might as well take me back right now!" He would not allow Tim to be sacrificed for him. No way in hell. He would rather have them torture him for the rest of his life than allow one of his people, one of his friends to take the fall for him.

"Agent Callen!" Vance snapped in order to silence the man. He then glared at Kort. "This is _not_ a trade. You will release Agent Callen because there is a court order demanding you do so."

"There is also similar order demanding you turn McGee over to me," Kort argued.

"I can't give you what I don't have. Now I won't say it again. Release my agent now!" Vance demanded.

Kort continued to glare at Vance for a minute before nodded to his men, who immediately removed the cuffs from Callen's wrists.

"Gibbs, I realize you no longer work for me, but would you mind escorting Agent Callen down to autopsy. I believe he could use an examination from Doctor Mallard," Vance said. He knew that Callen could make his way there on his own, but he wasn't sure he would.

"No way! I'm not going anywhere until someone tells me what the hell is going on!" Callen yelled angrily.

Vance gave him a steely glare. "This not a debate, Agent Callen. You will go now. That's an order!"

Callen glared back at Vance for a minute and then turned that same glare to Kort. "This isn't over. Now my phone and my weapon if you please."

Kort reached into pocket and pulled out the other man's cellphone and handed it over. He then took out his gun.

Vance grabbed the gun before Callen had the chance. The last thing he needed was the understandably volatile agent having a loaded weapon on him at this moment. As much as the idea of Callen killing Kort appealed to him, it would not help McGee any. "You'll get it once they're gone. Now go."

Gibbs approached Callen and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, let's go see Ducky."

Callen shrugged Gibbs off of him and walked back towards the elevator with Gibbs trailing behind him.

Vance waited for Callen and Gibbs to leave before turning back to Kort. "He's right you know. This is not over."

"Where is McGee?" Kort asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Vance said.

"You expect me to believe you don't know where he is?" Kort asked skeptically.

"I really don't give a rat's ass what you believe. But the fact remains that McGee is not here. Not here in this building, and probably not here in DC. Now I will do my job and I will try to find him with the best of my ability, but don't think for a second that means I don't know what's really going on here. McGee is no more a terrorist than Callen. And you know that just as well as I do," Vance said before getting closer and speaking quietly so that no one else could hear. "I know you set him up and I know why. You knew that McGee was likely responsible for hacking into your agency's mainframe. And you wanted to make sure that if he figured out that Callen was set up that he wouldn't do anything about it. You thought you could keep him quiet by making it look like he was the guilty party. You thought he would bury the evidence if you did. That was a very big miscalculation on your part."

"That is quite the assumption, Director Vance. Unfortunately, the evidence doesn't support it. Now I expect that if you find Agent McGee, you will over to me," Kort said.

"Of course. Like I said, I'll do my best, just as I'm sure you and your people will, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. OSP is almost as good at laying low as the guys at Witness Protection. You won't find him until he wants you to, and I doubt you'll wanna find him then. Now get the hell out of my building," Vance demanded.

Kort smirked arrogantly. "I will find him. Finding a computer geek can't be that difficult."

Vance chuckled. "Arrogance is a flaw, Kort. It'll be your undoing. Now you underestimated McGee once already when you assumed he wouldn't allow Callen to be exonerated at his expense. But you go ahead and do it again. I'll take great pleasure in watching you fall on your face. Now get lost," Vance ordered once more.

Kort smiled at him once more and then made his way into the elevator with his men trailing behind.


	14. Chapter 14

Callen sat on a slab as Ducky quickly examined him. "Well, Agent Callen, all things considered, I think you faired pretty well. You've got a couple of nasty bruises, but you should be fine," Ducky said.

"I told ya you'd get out," Gibbs told Callen.

Callen glared at Gibbs. "At what cost. Where is he, Gibbs. Where's Tim?"

Gibbs sighed. He knew the question was coming and he also knew Callen would not be satisfied with his answer. "I don't know."

Callen narrowed his eyes. "You came to see me a few days ago. You went on about how better a man I am than you and how that was rewarded with extreme loyalty. I know you were talking about Tim, so don't tell me you don't know where he is!"

"Things have changed since then," Gibbs said simply.

"What's changed?" Ducky asked worriedly.

"Yeah, how about you fill us in, Gibbs? What the hell happened? Why is the CIA looking for Tim?" Callen asked.

"You should talk to Vance about this," Gibbs said.

"Screw Vance! I'm talking to you! What the hell happened? You told me that there were those working to get me out. You never mentioned that sacrificing one of my people was part of the plan!" Callen yelled angrily.

"Because it wasn't!" Gibbs yelled back. He then took a deep breath to calm down. "Look, no one thought this would happen. I doubt Tim even thought it would happen. But I guess when it did, he felt he has to run with it."

"What happened?" Callen asked. He tried to keep his short temper in check, but it was not working too well. He had one hell of a week, 'hell' being the operative word, and now he was coming back to find that his freedom was coming at a friend's expense.

Gibbs sighed. "The CIA set you up, Callen."

"Yeah, I got that all on my own. Kort's an arrogant bastard. I let me know it was him without actually saying it," Callen said.

"Okay, well he took precautions to keep NCIS from investigating. There was a court order banning anyone in this agency from investigating," Gibbs continued.

"That's why you were so cryptic when you came to see me. You wanted me to know that someone was working to free me, but you couldn't tell me who," Callen realized. It also clicked in with why Tim would even go to Gibbs. He would only do that if there was no other choice in the matter.

"I wanted you to have hope. It was my way of giving it to you without compromising Tim," Gibbs said.

"Well, obviously he's been compromised," Callen said snidely.

"He wasn't caught. But Kort he was working some kind of angle to try to free you, even if he couldn't prove it. He must have put in a contingency plan just in case. I think he thought Tim wouldn't exonerate you if he did it that way," Gibbs said.

"Did it what way? What did he do?" Callen asked. He was almost afraid of the answer.

"He made it look like Tim was the one to set you up," Gibbs finally told him. He then prepared himself for the explosion that was sure to come. He didn't have long to wait.

"No way! That is a load of crap! There is no way that Tim would ever sell me out like that. Not to mention that he is no terrorist!" Callen exclaimed vehemently.

"I know that and you know that, hell even Vance knows that, but we can't prove it," Gibbs said sadly.

"Oh, Timothy," Ducky said to himself softly. This was what he was afraid of. He told Timothy that the CIA would fight to protect themselves, but he had been insistent. He wanted those responsible to pay.

Callen slammed his hand down on the slab angrily. "Dammit! He should've just left it alone!"

"Come on, Callen, you have to know that that was never an option. He's not the kind of person to just walk away when someone he cares about is in trouble especially when that person is someone who is responsible for everything that he has now. He couldn't let it go. It's just not who he is," Gibbs said.

"Well, he should've! I would've rather stayed in that pit than have Tim take my place," Callen said.

"Who says that's going to happen? Tim might not have been able to keep himself from being implicated in this disaster, but that doesn't mean he's going to allow Kort and his band of jackasses to get their hands on him. He hasn't been seen in days. He's obviously gone off the grid. What do you think the odds are of him being found before he's ready?

Callen had to admit that Gibbs had a point. Tim had been taught well. He knew how to disappear if he needed to, which he obviously did in this case. If he didn't want to be found, he wouldn't. "About zero."

"Exactly. He won't go down for this. He won't let himself go down for it. And neither will you," Gibbs said knowingly.

"You're damn right I won't," Callen said as he jumped off the slab and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Gibbs asked.

"To beat the ever loving crap out of Kort until he admits the truth," Callen said angrily.

"Like hell you are!" Gibbs yelled before grabbing him by the arm.

"Get the hell off me, Gibbs!" Callen yelled angrily before yanking his arm free.

Gibbs grabbed him again by the shirt and pulled him against the wall. "Hey! You need to get your head on straight now!"

"My head is perfectly straight! Kort's won't be when I'm done with him though," Callen promised.

"I get it, you're pissed. You've been locked up for almost a week and now you find out that the person responsible is going after someone you care about. I'd be pissed too. But that does not give you the right to squander the gift Tim gave you. Do not disrespect him that way."

Callen gave him the nastiest face he could manage. "Who the hell are you to talk to me about disrespecting Tim. Should I introduce you to the kettle, Mr. Pot?"

"You're absolutely right. I did disrespect him, more times than I'd like to count. But I'm right too. Going after Kort will only end with you behind bars again. And then what? That means everything Tim did for you was for nothing. You really gonna do that. You gonna make his sacrifice mean nothing?" Gibbs asked.

"I have to do something!" Callen exclaimed.

"Fine, do something, but be smart about it! Don't go off half-cocked like some rookie or DiNozzo. Play it smart, like Tim did. I know you're capable of it because Tim learned from you," Gibbs said. Callen was certainly capable of handling this better. He was just not thinking clearly right now. He needed to get his brain back on right.

Callen sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, Gibbs was right. Getting angry was not the right way to handle this. It wouldn't help Tim any and it would just put him back behind bars. "Alright. Let go. I need to go talk to my team."

Satisfied that he wouldn't do anything stupid, Gibbs released Callen wand watched him leave autopsy.


	15. Chapter 15

Sam sat at his desk with a bunch of cold case files. That's what they had been reduced to. Half the team was MIA and they were being watched by the CIA, so they weren't taking any more operations for the time being.

Sam was going out of his mind. His partner was being detained by the CIA and Tim was basically flying without a parachute while trying to save him. Sam felt helpless. He wanted to be able to do something, but he couldn't. All he could do was sit there and pray everything was going alright. He couldn't even call for an update because that would get Tim caught.

Sam's thoughts were interrupted by Eric's voice. "Guy's you gotta get up here now!"

Sam and Kensi both looked up to see Eric leaning over the railing. "Wow, you didn't even whistle," Kensi commented.

"No time. You gotta get up here. Hetty!" Eric yelled.

"Dude, do you have a death wish?" Sam asked. Hetty would not be happy with being hollered at.

As expected, Hetty came out of her office seconds later looking none too pleased. "Mr. Beal, I do not appreciate going summoned in such a way."

"Sorry, Hetty, but this is important. You guys won't believe who's on line," Eric said before rushing back to the Ops. Center.

The rest of the team immediately got up and started climbing the stairs. When they got there, they were all surprised to see Callen on the monitor.

"Hey, guys," Callen said.

"G, you okay? Sam asked as they all got closer to the screen.

"I've had worse days I suppose," Callen said. He'd also had better ones, so that wasn't saying much.

"What did they do to you?" Kensi asked. She noticed the bruises on his face.

"Oh, this. Well, apparently the CIA doesn't like terrorists," Callen said bitterly.

Sam cursed under his breath. He felt the urge to go find the bastards and cave their faces in.

"Look, I'm fine, guys. I was released about an hour ago," Callen said.

"I'm glad to see you're alright, Mr. Callen, but I can't help but notice someone missing from this party. Where is Mr. McGee?" Hetty asked. She supposed he could've been outside the room for a perfectly reasonable reason, but something told her otherwise.

Callen sucked in a breath. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Kensi asked worriedly.

"He was coming your way, G. He was trying to save you. It was him that got you freed, wasn't it?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, but unfortunately, it was at his own expense," Callen said. He then explained everything that was explained to him, from Tim implicated in his place to him jumping off the grid.

"That's crap! There is no way in hell that Tim would betray this country!" Kensi said firmly.

"More than that though, he wouldn't betray us. He would never set you up, G," Sam said.

"You don't have to convince me, Sam. I know this is all a load of crap. Kort is setting him up, just like he tried to set me up," Callen said confidently.

"Why though? Why would he do all this?" Kensi asked.

"Because he's a sanctimonious bastard," Callen said angrily.

"Mr. Callen," Hetty chastised. She certainly understood his anger. She was angry too, but right now they needed to keep cool heads. That was the only thing that was going to help Mr. McGee now.

"I guess he was looking for a fall guy. I think he's working with the terrorist group and he set me up to keep himself clean. Then when he realized Tim was involving himself, he decided to give him something to find. He probably thought Tim would back off if he found out he was implicated," Callen explained.

"Then he doesn't know Tim," Kensi said. There was no way Tim would ever even consider leaving Callen to fry if it was in his power to stop it, not even if it meant implicating himself.

Callen nodded his agreement. "Kort's an arrogant bastard. He underestimated Tim. He figured either way, one of us would go down for what he did. He was wrong. Tim was gone before I was even exonerated."

"We'll grab the next flight. We'll be out there as soon as we can," Sam said.

"No," Hetty said. "Mr. Callen is coming home."

"She's right. I have the feeling Vance is going to send me home anyway. He won't want me here to possibly murder Kort. Besides, Tim's long gone by now. It won't matter if we're here or there. I'll be back as soon as I finish up here," Callen said.

"Try not to kill anyone in that time, Mr. Callen," Hetty said.

"I'll do my best," Callen said. The connection was then severed.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Vance was waiting for Callen when he walked out of MTAC. "May I have a word with you, Agent Callen?"

"Of course, Director," Callen said before following him down the hall, through the bullpen, and up the stairs.

Vance allowed Callen to enter his office first before walking inside and closing the door behind him. "I take it your team has been notified of the latest developments."

"Of course. You didn't really expect me not to tell them, did you?" Callen asked.

"Of course not," Vance said before going over to his desk and sitting down behind it. "You should know that I've been following the paper trail for McGee."

Callen frowned. Tim wouldn't leave a paper trail. He was smart enough and skilled enough to disappear without one. "And?"

"I've got reason to believe he's headed for Iran," Vance said.

Callen stared at him for a minute and then chuckled.

Vance did not see the humor in the situation. "Callen, I get that you probably think this is a good thing given that Iran doesn't have an extradition treaty with us, but I think you're failing to see the bigger picture. Not only is Iran a very dangerous place to be, but it's also where the leader of the terrorist group is located. It'll make him look more guilty."

Callen waved off his concerns. "He's not going to Iran. If he were going to Iran, you wouldn't know it. There's no way in hell he'd let you trace where he was going. He knows how to disappear without leaving any trace. He's messing with Kort's head."

"Then where is he going?" Vance asked.

"I don't know, but I do know that there will be no paper trail leading there," Callen said.

Just then there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Vance said.

The door was opened by Kort.

"I thought I told you to get the hell out of my building," Vance said as he glared at the man.

Kort ignored him and closed the door behind him. "I'm assuming you've received word as to where McGee is headed."

Callen couldn't help but smirk. "Worried yet, Kort?"

"What do you want, Mr. Kort?" Vance asked.

"I want to speak to his accomplice," Kort said.

"Accomplice?" Callen asked. This was the first he was hearing of an accomplice.

"I hadn't gotten to that part yet. McGee got help in leaving," Vance said.

Callen smiled once more. "Really? Who was it? I wanna send them a basket of muffins."

"Doctor Nate Getz."


	16. Chapter 16

Callen looked at Vance in surprise. "You think Nate helped Tim disappear. That's impossible. He's in the Middle East."

"Not anymore, Callen," Kort said.

"Doctor Getz flew into DC a few days ago. Apparently he acquired a fake passport for McGee as well as other documentation," Vance said.

Callen frowned. This didn't make any sense. He had problem believing Nate would help Tim, but he did have a hard time believing Tim would let him. Tim was a self-sacrificer. He wouldn't allow anyone else to go down if it was in his power to stop it. He wouldn't let Nate do this if there was a chance that he would go to prison for it. Unless he'd asked Nate to help prior to learning that he was now being charged and it was too late to stop Nate's involvement later. It was possible that he'd always intended to leave the country. Tim was also fiercely loyal to his team. The idea of someone like Kort using one of them to get away with betraying everything he stood for would've seriously pissed Tim off. He would've wanted justice.

"Where is Getz now?" Kort asked.

"Being picked up as we speak and I will be questioning him," Vance said firmly. He wasn't about to let another one of his people be pulled under the clutches of Trent Kort.

"I don't think so, Director. Getz is mine. Or have you forgotten my court order?" Kort asked with an arrogant smirk.

"Not at all. Your warrant is for McGee, not Doctor Getz. Until I see another order demanding I hand him over, he's mine," Vance said, knowing for a fact that wouldn't happen until after he interrogated the man. Doctor Getz was already on his way in.

"Then I'm going to be there when you interrogate him," Kort said grudgingly.

"Fine. But you'll keep your mouth shut. You say even one word and I will have you thrown out on your ass," Vance warned. He knew he could refuse to allow Kort into the interrogation room, but the truth was he wanted him there. He wanted to gage his reaction to whatever Doctor Getz would say.

"I wanna be there too, Director," Callen said.

"The same rules apply to you, Agent Callen. I will be asking the questions, not you," Vance said firmly.

Callen nodded.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Nate sat at an interrogation room at NCIS Headquarters. He was brought in less than twenty minutes ago. They didn't tell him why, but he knew. He had been waiting for it. He knew that it would not take long for them to link Tim's disappearance to him.

Vance, Kort, and Callen entered the room seconds later. Vance and Kort sat in front of him while Callen sat on the side of him.

"Callen, you've been released?" Nate said feigning surprise. He couldn't know what was going on for the purpose of this conversation. He had to play it like this was the first time he was hearing about even the possibility of Callen being exonerated.

Callen nodded. "Just today."

"Doctor Getz, do you know why you're here?" Vance asked.

"Well, that question and the way you asked it makes me think that you think I've committed a crime, but other than that, no," Nate lied.

"When's the last time you saw Agent McGee?" Vance asked.

"This is about Tim? I just saw him a few hours ago," Nate told him.

"Really?" Vance asked in surprise. He wasn't surprised that the doctor saw him, but he was surprised that he admitted it. He figured he would've lied about it, especially with Kort in the room.

Nate nodded.

"And did you provide him with the means to flee the country?" Vance asked.

Nate put on a very good look of surprise if he did say so himself. "_Flee_ the country? You say that as if it was a crime for him to go. He left to try to save Callen, and yes, I did help him with that."

"You provided him with the documentation he needed to leave the United States undetected until it was too late?" Vance asked.

"Yes. He was worried that the person who was setting Callen up might find out if he made the arrangements himself," Nate said.

Kort shifted in his chair. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he wasn't completely stupid. He knew Vance would make good on this threat if he said anything.

"So to your knowledge, Callen had not been exonerated when McGee left?"

"No, Tim left thinking that Callen was still in trouble," Nate lied effectively

"You're sure about that?" Vance asked. He had to give it to him. If he was lying, he was doing a very good job at it.

"Of course I'm sure. But you're obviously not. What do you know that I don't?" Nate asked. Now came the hard part. Vance was going hand him evidence of Tim' 'guilt' and he was going to have to believe it, causing his personal safety to become an issue.

Vance pulled a piece of paper from the folder he'd brought with him and handed it to Nate. "That's the authorization of the wire transfer from an account supposedly belonging to Callen and that's supposed to be his signature at the bottom."

Nate pretended to read at all and be surprised by it. "This is Tim's signature, and if I'm reading this correctly, his account fraudulently set up in Callen's name. Callen's name's on the account, but it's not his.

"Yes. It's believed that McGee set Callen up to take the fall," Vance said. He worded that just right. He made sure not to say he believed it because he didn't. He didn't think for one minute that McGee was guilty. In fact he believed the person responsible was in the room with them. "McGee's decision to go to Iran makes him look even more guilty since that's where this specific group of terrorists is."

"I thought he was going there to get the goods on the real traitor. I never thought…" Nate trailed off for dramatic affect. Well, that and he couldn't bear to actually say the words.

Callen narrowed his eyes at Nate. "What?"

Nate stiffened. Callen was already starting to get pissed. Not that Nate blamed him. He hated himself for even implying that Tim was guilty. "I'm sorry, Callen. I thought he was trying to save you."

"He was! What the hell are you saying, Nate?" Callen asked in shock. He couldn't really be saying he thought Tim was guilty, could he? He better not be because if he was, Callen would kill him!

Nate sighed. Callen was going to make him say it. "It's all right here. He did it."

Callen leaned forward and snatched the piece of paper out of Nate's hand. "This is trash! It's a lie! It's no more true than it was with me! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What's the matter, Callen? Don't like what you hear?" Kort asked smugly.

"You shut up!" Callen yelled at Kort before glaring at Nate. "You know Tim. You were the first person to help him when he came to work with us. Are you really going to sit here now and write him off as a traitor?"

Nate took a deep breath. He then spoke one word that he knew could be his last if Callen had anything to say about it. "Yes."

"You son of a bitch!" Callen yelled before standing up, grabbing Nate up by the shirt and slamming him against the way.

"Agent Callen, let him go!" Vance ordered before quickly making his way over to them.

Callen ignored him. He was too focused on his fury with Nate. "Tim was your friend! He trusted you and this is how you pay him back?"

"I said enough!" Vance yelled as he pulled the extremely volatile agent away and got in the middle of him and Nate.

Callen continued to glare at Nate, but didn't try to go back at him, mostly because he knew Vance would stop him. "You bastard. You're worse than Gibbs and his band of idiots could ever hope to be. You can rot in hell!"

Nate looked away. He had to admit that those words hurt. Not that he could really blame Callen. It did look like he'd betrayed Tim.

Vance turned to Nate. "Do you want to press charges?" Legally, he had to ask. Callen had assaulted Nate. He had every right to want Callen arrested.

Nate shook his head. "No."

Vance turned back to Callen. "Alright, you get out of here. Take a walk."

Callen glared at Nate for a few more seconds before walking out of the room.

"I think I'll be heading out too. I've heard all I need to," Kort said smugly. He obviously enjoyed what just happened.

"Am I to understand you no longer believe Doctor Getz to be involved?" Vance asked.

"No. After this little display, I'm convinced that Doctor Getz wasn't involved. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a terrorist to stop," Kort said.

"Good luck with that. The last time I checked, Iran wasn't US friendly. They're not going to hand him over," Vance said. He knew that that wasn't what he meant though. If Kort was the traitor, he would likely just contact his terrorist buddies to have McGee executed on site. For that reason alone, Vance sincerely hoped Callen was right about him not being in Iran.

Kort just stared at him for a minute and then walked out.

Once everyone else was gone, Vance shut off the microphone in the room and then went over to Nate. "Well, this an interesting turn of events. Callen's reaction sure sent things home for Kort."

Nate simply nodded.

"I can't figure out if that was what you wanted all along or not, and honestly I think it's better that way. Anyway, you won't be returning to the Middle East anytime soon," Vance said.

"I figured as much," Nate said.

"I'm sending you back to LA," Vance said.

Nate gulped. He'd seen it coming, but it still made him very uneasy. Now he would have to face the rest of the team. They wouldn't be any happier than Callen was. "Would you mind terribly if I took a separate flight from Callen?"

"I would encourage it. I'll let Hetty know you're returning to her command. I'll let you tell her your opinion of McGee," Vance said. He wasn't sure if Doctor Getz really believed McGee was guilty, but if he did, he deserved anything Hetty had to throw at him.

Nate nodded and then headed for the door.

"Doctor Getz," Vance called, stopping the man just as he reached the door. "If you did mean what you said here today, I find I agree with Callen. You are worse and you should rot in hell."

Nate nodded again and walked out the door.


	17. Chapter 17

Nate slowly made his way through the LA office of NCIS. He wasn't in too much of a hurry because he knew Callen had arrived before him and would likely have informed their coworkers of what happened at Headquarters.

Sure enough, when Nate made it to the squad room, Sam started glaring at him the minute he saw him. "You got a lot of nerve showing up here."

Kensi and Callen turned as soon as they heard Sam. They both glared at the doctor. "What the hell are you doing here?" Callen asked.

"I guess Director Vance didn't tell you. He's sending me back to the team. I'm supposed to report to Hetty for duty," Nate told him.

"You have got to be kidding me. You don't belong here, not when he's not here," Sam said angrily. Needless to say, he had been furious when G returned and told them that Nate had betrayed Tim in such a way. That was something he would've expected from Gibbs or DiNozzo, not Nate. It was beyond reprehensible.

"It's not my fault that he's not here, Sam. He did this to himself when he betrayed us," Nate said, hating every word that came out of his mouth.

Sam saw red at that moment. He immediately walked over and shoved Nate hard. "What did you say? You wanna repeat that?"

"How can you believe this garbage? You know Tim. He's the last person in the world that would betray this country. And he certainly wouldn't set Callen up," Kensi said.

"I'm sorry, Kensi, but the evidence…"

"The evidence? The evidence said I was guilty!" Callen lied.

"Because Tim set you up," Nate said.

"Don't! You have no right to call him that anymore!" Sam said angrily.

"I don't understand why you would believe this. Because some piece of paper says so? Callen's right, that same evidence said he was guilty," Kensi said. She was trying really hard to understand this, but she was coming up empty. She couldn't think of one feasible reason Nate would have for doubting Tim.

"It's not just that, okay? He tricked me. He got me to get him out of the country so that he could avoid arrest. Why would he do that if he were innocent? And why wouldn't he tell me what he was planning?" Nate asked.

"Ever think maybe he was trying to give you plausible deniability? So that you wouldn't be brought up on charges and possibly be forced to reveal his location?" Callen asked.

"I got a better 'why' question for you, Nate. Why would he bend over backwards to save Callen if he was the one to frame him?" Kensi asked. That was what really got her. Nate was a smart and logical person. How could he not realize that this made no sense at all?

"Maybe he felt guilty. I don't know. All I know is that everything says he betrayed us. I'm sorry, I just… I think he did it," Nate said.

"And I think you're a jackass!" Sam yelled before shoving him once more.

"Tim has been nothing but a friend to you and this is how you repay him? By calling him a traitor? You're the traitor, Nate. You betrayed Tim worse than those bastards in DC ever could," Kensi said.

"And you're going to pay for it," Sam promised.

Soon Hetty cleared her throat from behind them. "Is there a reason you are all standing around here when there's work to be done?"

"Just having a little conversation, Hetty?" Callen said without ever looking at her.

"Well, consider the conversation over, Mr. Callen. Mr. Getz, a word if you please," Hetty said before heading back for her office.

Callen smiled maliciously at Nate. "Have fun, Doc."

Nate took a deep breath and followed Hetty into her office. When he got there, she was already seated at her desk. Nate hung back by the door. He wanted as much distance between them as possible.

"Have a seat, Nate," Hetty said.

"If it's just the same to you, Hetty, I think I'll stay here," Nate said.

Hetty gave him a look. "If I wanted to kill you, do you honestly think a few feet distance would make a difference?"

"Yeah, good point," Nate said before making his way over to her desk and sitting down. "Look, Hetty, please try to understand…"

Hetty put her hand up to stop him. "Mr. Getz, why do you think I sent you to Mr. McGee's side?"

"Because you wanted him to have someone you trusted in his corner," Nate said. She'd as much as told him that when she dispatched him to DC.

"Do you think I would do that if I thought you would ever turn his back on him?" Hetty questioned.

"I didn't turn my back on him. He turned his back on us," Nate said.

"Mr. Getz, you can sell that line of bull to anyone else in this office, but do not expect me to believe it. You no more believe Mr. McGee is guilty than I or any of the others," Hetty said. She knew her people very well. She knew when they were lying. No one else did, but she did. And Nate was lying. "Here's how I see it. Mr. Callen's reaction to you is the only reason you left Headquarters without a pair of handcuffs enclosed around your wrists."

Nate was barely able to keep himself from chuckling. He should've known Hetty would figure him out. Not even the director could be sure if he meant what he said about Tim, but she was sure he didn't. The woman never missed a beat.

"I must say it was quite brave of you to walk in here and claim Mr. McGee a traitor, no doubt something he asked you to do. Don't worry, I don't expect you to admit it, nor would I want you to. This is one of those 'the less I know the better' situations. However, if things should take a turn for the worst and you should find out, I expect that you'll tell me. Do you understand?" Hetty asked.

Nate simply nodded. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of him. Hetty knew. That was one less person that hated him. He knew what he was doing was necessary, but it was still hard with everyone wanting to rip his throat out.

"Good. You can go," Hetty said.

Nate immediately stood up and walked out of her office.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim made his way through the airport. He'd just reached his destination. Normally it would've taken him a lot less time, but he'd taken five different flights to ensure that he was not followed.

Tim looked around the airport. He was waiting for someone. He didn't know who he was waiting for exactly, but he figured he'd know them when he saw them, or they would know him. After leaving DC, he'd called Ziva asked her for one more favor. That favor was supposed to be meeting him.

Soon Tim noticed a tall dark skinned man approach him. "Timothy McGee," the man asked.

"Who wants to know?" Tim asked. While he was pretty sure this was who he was waiting for, he knew not to take that for granted. He would get all the information he could before he admitted to anything.

The man smiled. "Distrustful. Ziva was right about you. You are smart. Malachi Ben-Gidon. I believe you were expecting me."

"ID," Tim said simply.

Malachi chuckled and took out his wallet, flashing Tim his ID. Your turn."

Tim grabbed his bag and opened the side pocket. It was filled with about a dozen ID's.

Malachi looked at Tim in awe. "How many people have you been?"

Tim chuckled as he pulled out the ID he was looking for. "There aren't enough days in the year for me to list them all. Also, it would be a breech in protocol for me to tell you, and I think I've done that enough for one week. Here you go."

Malachi looked at it for a second and then handed it back. "Okay, I guess we should be going now. Director David is anxious to meet you."

Tim smiled and immediately started following the man.


	18. Chapter 18

Tim followed Malachi though Mossad into a big, beautifully furnished office. He saw a man with grayed hair sitting at the desk. He could only guess it was Eli David.

"Timothy McGee, sir," Malachi said.

"Thank you. You can go," Eli told him.

Malachi nodded and then left.

Eli gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Have a seat, Agent McGee."

Tim immediately sat down. "Thank you for agreeing to see me, Director David."

"I must say I was surprised when Ziva told me you were coming my way," Eli said.

"So was I. The decision to come to Israel was last minute," Tim said. The idea hadn't really come to him until he was on his way to the airport. That had been when he contacted Ziva that final time.

"Hmm. What I mean is I was surprised because I was one to send the evidence to your government condemning you, per Ziva's request," Eli said.

"Well, Ziva only did that because I asked her to. She would've preferred I wait and try to find a better outcome," Tim said.

"Yes, she mentioned that too. I have to tell you, I haven't decided yet whether or not I'm going to hand you over to your government," Eli told him.

Tim showed no reaction. He wasn't too surprised to hear it actually. Mossad and NCIS had good relations. Director David wouldn't ruin that on a whim. Tim knew he was taking a risk by coming here.

"The only reason I even agreed to see you is because frankly you intrigue me. You're the only member of Agent Gibbs' team I hadn't met," Eli said.

"I don't work for Gibbs anymore. I left that disaster over a year ago and I never looked back," Tim said.

"And that's what's so intriguing. From what I've heard, before you, not many had willingly left his command before. And from the way Ziva speaks of you, I know she has some regrets. That and your body language tell me that you left under less than ideal circumstances," Eli said.

Tim shifted uncomfortably. As much as he liked to believe he was over it, the truth was he still had a lot of issues with his former team and how they treated him. "With all due respect, sir, I didn't come here to discuss the dynamic of my former team."

"Fair enough. So convince me not to report you to Leon right now," Eli said.

"I guess Ziva's word that I'm innocent won't be enough. Understandable. I'm sure you didn't get to where you are by taking people by their words, even if they are your daughter. I can't really prove that I'm innocent of the crime I've been accused of. If I could, I wouldn't need to be here. But if I were guilty, it would hardly be logical for me to have worked so hard to exonerate the person I supposedly set up," Tim said.

Eli nodded. "You make a good point, however, I get the feeling you are an experienced liar. It could've been part of your plan."

Tim chuckled. "An experienced liar. That's a sentence I never thought I'd ever hear used to describe me. Up until a year and a half ago, I was a terrible liar. Becoming an experienced liar was a skill I was taught when I joined my unit. And you're right when you say I could've planned this whole thing. But if I had, I would've planned it a lot better. I can assure you, I would not have been caught."

Eli laughed. "You are something else. Most would try to convince me that my idea of this being a diabolical plan was farfetched. You just say you would've done it better."

"Well, it's true. I wouldn't have been stupid enough to leave a paper trail if it really was my doing. And I certainly wouldn't allow evidence leading to my guilt to be sent," Tim said.

"Let's say I believe all this for a minute. What is it that you hoped to gain by coming here?" Eli asked.

"Trent Kort. Ever hear of him?" Tim asked.

Eli nodded. "An agent in the American CIA. I've never dealt with him, but I know of him. From what I gathered, he is a bit shady and more than a bit arrogant."

"Yeah, that's Kort. The man is all arrogance. It's his biggest flaw," Tim said.

Eli chuckled. "This coming from the man who boasted about his skills not two minutes ago."

"That wasn't boasting, it was stating facts. Yes, I am arrogant to a point, but my arrogance is backed up by the work I've done. I'm not so arrogant that I can't see someone better than me, like Kort is. Anyway, I believe that Kort is responsible for setting up both my colleague and myself. I believe that he is the one responsible for betraying my country."

"Do you have proof?"

"No. But I'll find it. There's no way he's getting away with this. I will prove he did this and make him pay. And Kort has given me the means to do it," Tim said smiling.

Eli raised an eyebrow. "How do you mean?"

"From the moment I realized it was Kort that came after my team, I had made up my mind to stop him once and for all. Kort made it easier by setting me up. You see, I'm a traitor now. If I'm found, I'll be arrested and jailed until my government decided whether or not they're going to send me to some country to be tortured and killed, or if they're just going to execute me outright. I have nothing left to lose," Tim said with a smirk.

"And a man with nothing to lose has nothing to fear," Eli finished for him. He understood now. By framing him for this crime, Kort had made it so that Agent McGee no longer had any reason to hesitate. He couldn't go home now. He had all the time in the world to plot this man's downfall. "And you've come to me for what exactly. Asylum? I can give that to you, but not forever. If the US were to ever discover you were here, I'd have no choice but to hand you over to them," Eli told them.

"I understand that. I would never ask you to damage relations with my country. I don't want that anymore than you do. But I doubt anyone would ever find me here. I know how to disappear without being traced. I'm just asking for a little help here," Tim said. He had all the time in the world to dedicate to stopping Kort, but he didn't have access to the resources. He might have had better access if he hadn't been set up, but he was. He needed some help, and aside from Nate, he couldn't contact his team.

Eli thought about it for a minute. He did feel compelled to help. He understood what it meant to want to defend your country, and he knew what it meant to be betrayed by someone you should be able to trust. He understood where this man's fight came from. "Alright. You can stay here as long as you want and we'll help in any way we can, but I will turn you over if asked to by your government. I must put my country first in the end."

"I respect that, sir. Thank you," Tim said.

"I hope you have a plan," Eli said.

Tim smiled. "Oh, I do."


	19. Chapter 19

After getting settled into a room at Mossad, Tim took out his newest phone and dialed Nate. Nate had gotten a disposable phone as well so that they could stay in touch without being traced.

The phone was answered by Nate on the second ring. _"Hello."_

"Hey, it's me. Can you talk?" Tim asked. He needed to make sure Nate was completely alone before they talked freely.

"_Yeah, we're good. I'm in my office and other than to glare at me, the team doesn't pay me any attention," _Nate said.

"You're back in LA? I take it things went according to plan then," Tim said. Nate certainly wouldn't be back in LA if the plan hadn't worked. He would be in a jail cell for aiding and abetting.

"_Amazingly so. Vance brought me in and he interrogated me with Kort and Callen present. I played the innocent victim betrayed by a friend. Of course sees it the other way around. He considers me the traitor," _ Nate said.

"Yeah, I know that must have been hard, but it obviously sent the message home to Kort or you would be in a jail cell right now," Tim said.

"_Oh, yeah, it worked. Kort is convinced that I was tricked and had no knowledge of the evidence against you_. _The plan worked perfectly. Still, it was hard to hear Callen say that I was worse than Gibbs," _Nate said.

Tim cursed under his breath. That was the last thing he wanted. He didn't want Nate to be compared to the people who'd treated him so terribly. Nate was not a traitor and Tim hated that he was being treated like one. But what choice did he have. Having Nate make the others think he was a traitor was the only way to protect him, which was Tim's biggest goal. Yes, it also gave him someone on the inside he could ask for help without worrying about being caught, but the biggest reason was to protect the other man. "I'm sorry, Nate. I'm sorry I put you in this position."

"_Hey, don't be. I knew what I was doing. I knew what would happen if I said I believed you were guilty. I agreed to it because you're my friend and I wanted to help. And despite the reception I received, I would do it again,"_ Nate said firmly.

"Still, you shouldn't have to go through this. I'm sorry, I had no choice. You had already made the arrangements to fund my getaway when we found out Kort had set me up. The only choice I had was to make it look like I tricked you. Look, Callen's wrong and he's going to realize that soon," Tim said. He knew Callen well. He, as well as the rest of the team, was going to be sick with guilt when they realized that Nate had actually been helping him Tim this whole time.

"_Well, he's not completely wrong. If I have been saying these last couple of days was true, I would be worse. Look, it's okay. Like you said, they'll all realize the truth soon. Besides, I have one ally here,"_ Nate said.

Tim had no trouble figuring out who that was. "Hetty? Yeah, I was never deluded enough to think we were going to fool her."

Nate laughed. _"Right. I didn't confirm it, but she didn't need me to. She knew that I was lying and applauded me for being brave enough to do it. She did insist that I go to her should anything go wrong."_

"Yeah, about that. I've deviated from the original plan a bit," Tim said.

"_Well, I should hope so. I hoped that you weren't really going to go to Iran, especially since that's exactly where Kort thinks you are and has likely pulled his terrorist contacts to have you executed," _Nate said.

"Well, I'm still going to be in Iran. Well, sort of. Kort will and his buddies will just miss me," Tim said.

"_You're going to Iran? Are you crazy?!" _ Nate asked loudly.

"Relax, I'm not actually going to be there, Nate," Tim said.

"_Okay, you've lost me," _Nate said after a moment of silence.

"It's pretty simple really. Kort is not the only one that can leave a false paper trail. I will be in Iran on paper only. I will be exactly what Kort has painted me as. A terrorist," Tim said with a smirk.

"_Wait a second. Let me see if I'm understanding this correctly. You're planning to make it look like you really are working with the terrorist group, even to Kort."_

"Yes," Tim said simply.

"_How would that work? These guys are working with Kort. He's the traitor. He knows that," _Nate said as he tried to understand the logic in his friend's plan.

"Yes, but he also knows that terrorists can't be trusted. They'll work with anyone they need to in order to achieve their ends. I just have to convince Kort that that's what's happening. That I offered his new friends more than he did," Tim explained.

"_What's the point of that? What exactly will that do to prove your innocence or Kort's guilt?" _Nate asked.

"It'll trip Kort up. He'll make a mistake and I'll be there to catch him. That's where I need your help actually. I need you to contact Gibbs in DC. I need him and Abby to keep tabs on Kort in DC," Tim said. He figured Gibbs could keep tabs on Kort physically and Abby could do it technologically. Kort would be too focused on him and his team to pay any attention to Gibbs or Abby.

"_You wanna trust them with something this big?"_ Nate said apprehensively at the prospect of trusted them.

"We don't really have a choice, Nate. I at least need someone to track his paper trail and I won't risk Eric or Nell. I think risking one team member is more than enough," Tim said. He felt bad enough risking Nate. He wouldn't add Eric and Nell to the list too.

Nate sighed on the other end of the line. _"Okay, it's your life on the line. We'll handle it your way. I'll contact Gibbs immediately. Just so we're clear though, the plan in not for you to physically go to Iran, right?"_

"No." '_Not yet anyway,' _Tim added to himself. If it became necessary, he would go, but he wasn't going to tell Nate that. There was no way Nate would agree to that. He would do anything he could to stop that.

"_Okay, good. Call me tomorrow. I want an update every day. The first day you don't call me, I'm going to assume it is because something happened to you and I'm going to inform the rest of the team," _Nate said firmly.

"Got it. Thanks for everything, Nate," Tim said for hanging up. He then took out his computer and sat down at the small round table in front of the bed. "Okay. Time to get to work."


	20. Chapter 20

Not long after hanging up with Tim, Nate picked up the phone and dialed the number he had for Gibbs. It was answered on the second ring.

"_Yeah, Gibbs."_

"Hello, Agent Gibbs," Nate said.

"_I recognize your voice. You're the jackass that called me a few days ago wanting to talk to McGee. Who the hell are you?"_ Gibbs asked in a demanding tone.

"My name is Doctor Nate Getz. I work with Tim," Nate said.

"_Yeah, I remember you. You were the shrink there when Macy was in charge too. You're also the son of a bitch that betrayed Tim the minute things looked bad," _Gibbs said.

"First of all, Agent Gibbs, Not everything is as it seems. And second of all, are you really one to be calling me a traitor?" Nate asked. He would take the abuse from his team because he knew that anger was clouding their better judgment and that they had Tim's best interests in mind, but he would not take it from the man who spent the majority of Tim's career treated him like he was less than.

There was silence on the other end for a minute before Gibbs finally spoke again. _"What do you want?"_

"It's not what I want. It's what Tim needs. I think it's the least you owe him after seven years of hell," Nate said.

"_What is it?" _Gibbs asked.

"He's asked that you and that lab tech of yours track Kort's movements, both physically and technologically. He wants to know when Kort makes a mistake," Nate said.

"_Alright, give me his information so that I can contact him," _Gibbs said.

"No," Nate said simply. He wasn't giving this guy any kind of information on Tim, not even a phone number. He didn't trust Gibbs one bit.

"_Excuse me?" _

"I believe you heard me just fine, Agent Gibbs. I'm not giving you anything in reference to Tim or his location. When something happens, you'll contact me and I'll get the news to Tim," Nate said.

"_Like hell! I don't know you from Adam. All I know about you is that you told three people in an interrogation room that you believe McGee is guilty. For all I know, you're moonlighting for Kort,"_ Gibbs said.

Nate wasn't surprised that Gibbs knew that. Tim had told him enough to know that the man had probably been in the observation room when Nate was being interrogated. "I could say the same thing for you. The difference is that you have a history or betraying Tim. And that is why I will not trust you with so much as a phone number. You have a chance to prove that you're not a total bastard here. The question is will you?"

Just then, Callen walked into the room, causing Nate to stiffen. "Uh, I have to go. I hope you'll do the right thing. I'll be in touch."

"Who was on the phone? Kort?" Callen asked.

"Of course not," Nate said.

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised. You already betrayed this team. It wouldn't surprise me if you went all the way," Callen said bitterly. When he first decided to go see Nate, he hadn't planned to be so confrontational, but he couldn't help it. He wanted to try to get Nate to see how ridiculous he was being, but all he could think about was how the man had betrayed them and he just couldn't play nice.

Nate sucked in a breath. Callen's words continued to cut him, but he reminded himself that they were spoken out of concern for their friend. He also had to remind himself that Callen was buried very deep in anger. His anger was clouding his better judgment, as well as everyone else's. Nate was sure if his team wasn't so focused on their anger that they would see that Nate would never do what he'd alluded himself to have done. It had simply worked to his and Tim's advantage that the team was so unbearable angry. "It's interesting that you call me a traitor when I'm not the terrorist."

"Neither is he!" Callen yelled as he slammed his hands down on Nate's desk.

"It's okay, Callen. I know you have to believe he's innocent. You can't bring yourself to believe that someone you trusted, someone you've been a mentor to, could set you up for a crime you didn't commit," Nate said. He knew he was pissing Callen off more and that was exactly his intention. He knew that the minute Callen's anger began dissipate even a little, he would start to think clearly, and once that happened, he would realize that Nate's 'betrayal' was as much a lie as Tim's guilt.

"Don't try to shrink me, Nate. I believe Tim is innocent because he is!" Callen said firmly.

"Did you come in here just to antagonize me?" Nate asked.

"I came to try to appeal to you and the sense of loyalty I used to think I had! But after this crap you're spewing, I realize that I was insane to think I could get through to you," Callen said before angrily walked away.

"Then I guess I did my job," Nate said once Callen was gone.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Nell led herself and Eric into a supply closet and then closed the door. "Okay, I think this is about as safe a place as any."

Eric let out a breath. "I can't believe we're reduced to talking in a supply closet."

Nell nodded her agreement. "The team is just so divided right now. Tim's MIA, Callen, Sam, and Kensi are ready to kill Nate, and God only knows what Hetty's doing."

"I can't believe this was happening. I thought it couldn't get any worse when Callen was arrested," Eric said. He had certainly been wrong about that. Callen was back, but now Tim was in the wind and Nate had betrayed them. He would ask how worse it could get, but it probably would get worse.

"Right. Callen may be back, but we're still down an agent and friend, and the team is pissed! No one more than Callen. I've never seen him so angry," Nell said. She'd seen Sam and Kensi angry plenty, but not Callen. No matter how mad he was, he always managed to keep a cool head. Not this time. There seemed to be no bounds for his anger.

"Well, you gotta understand that Callen has been Tim's biggest supporter since the minute he got here. He sees him kinda like a little brother he has to protect. Also, Tim gave up everything to free Callen. I think that angers him a lot. Add that to Nate's betrayal and I'd say that he's got so much rage that he's going to explode real soon," Eric said.

"Are we sure Nate's betrayed us?" Nell asked. She certainly wasn't. Nate just wasn't the type to turn his back on a friend based on some evidence that could ever well be, and in her opinion was, fabricated.

"He believes Tim's guilty despite all the good he's done. If that's not betrayal, I don't know what is," Eric said.

"But are we sure he believes it. Anybody can say they believe something, but that doesn't mean they do. We're an undercover unit. We specialize in lying. Nate has been in the Middle East for months. You can bet that if he couldn't lie well before, he can now," Nell said.

"You think Nate's lying?" Eric asked.

"I'm not saying anything for sure. I don't know if Nate really believes what he's saying or if he's playing the game from the inside. I'm just saying we shouldn't completely count him out," Nell said.

"Yeah, I guess it's possible. I like it much better than the alternative. Should we tell the others?" Eric asked. The rest of the team was so angry with Nate. Maybe they should know that it could all be a lie.

Nell shook her head. "No. If Nate is working from the inside, for whatever reason he doesn't want anyone to know. We should just let this play out and hope it all turns out okay."

"Okay, deal," Eric said.

"Okay, let's get back before someone misses us," Nell said before leading the way out again.


	21. Chapter 21

Tim was in his room at Mossad hard to work on his computer. It was what he did every day for the last two weeks he'd been there. When he wasn't setting himself up as terrorist, he was trying to prove that the evidence Kort fabricated was indeed fake. He hadn't really expected to succeed there. It was just something for him to try while he waited for Kort to make a mistake.

Just then there was a knock on the door. Tim immediately got up and answered it. He was surprised to see Ziva there. "Ziva? What are you doing here?"

"Well, this is my home," Ziva said with a smirk. No matter how long she'd been gone or what problems she might have with her father, Mossad would always be a home to her.

"Yeah, but aren't you supposed to be on a ship right now?" Tim asked.

"That is what vacation time is for," Ziva said as she walked into the room.

Tim closed the door behind her. "Ziva, you shouldn't have come. What if Kort gets wind of it and thinks I'm with you. There is no extradition treaty here and your father has made it very clear that he will turn me in if he's asked to."

"I do not think anyone will make that distinction. It is as I said, Mossad is my home. No one is going to bat an eyelid at me coming here. I had planned to come on my vacation anyway. I just took the opportunity a bit earlier than I would have. Besides, everyone thinks you are in Iran," Ziva said.

"Eyelash," Tim said after a minute.

"What?" Ziva asked in confusion.

"You said no one is going to bat an eyelid. It's eyelash," Tim elaborated.

Ziva chuckled. "It is almost like old times, yes?"

"I hope not. Old times weren't all that enjoyable for me," Tim said.

"Oh, right. I am sorry," Ziva said. She really had not been thinking when she said that. She had certainly not meant to upset him.

"No, it's okay. I know what you meant. I miss you too," Tim admitted. And he did. He didn't miss the way she treated him or the way she would disregard the way the others did so, but he missed the person she was when she wasn't doing all of that and he always would. He still wasn't sure he could ever be friends with Ziva again, but that didn't stop him from remembering the good in her.

Ziva cleared her throat. "Anyway, tell me how I can help you now."

"I'm not sure you can. I think it's mostly a waiting game now. I've planted some false information to trick Kort into thinking I really am working with the terrorist group. He'll of course think I'm using the group to get to him, but it'll hopefully make him nervous enough to make a mistake," Tim explained.

"How will you know if he makes a mistake?" Ziva wondered.

"Gibbs and Abby are working on that angle. They're tracking his movements," Tim said. He'd gotten the official word from Nate just days after he asked him to contact Gibbs. After some difficulty, Nate managed to get him to agree.

"You are in contact with Gibbs? What if he is being watched?" Ziva asked. She was frankly very surprised McGee would do that. The man had gained extreme paranoia after joining Office of Special Projects. He should have figured that one out.

"No, I'm not in contact with Gibbs. I won't tell you the name of my contact so that you won't have to lie if you get caught working with me and you're asked, but he's someone I trust and no one will suspect him, not even my team," Tim said. His team was still clueless to the fact that Nate was working them. He had to hand it to Nate. Not many could get one over on the team. But part of Nate's job was knowing what buttons to push, and he was good at his job.

Ziva nodded. "And you're sure there is nothing I can do to help?"

"I don't think anybody can do anything right now but wait," Tim said as he sat down at the table.

"Alright. Then I should go and see my father. I will see you later," Ziva said before heading out of the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gibbs found himself following Kort's car to the CIA building. After much deliberation, he'd reluctantly decided to do it the shrink's way. He didn't like it though. He didn't like the idea of reporting to a man who'd loudly announced his belief that McGee was a terrorist. Yes, the doctor had all but said that he was lying then, but for all Gibbs knew, now he was lying. In the end though, he had to agree. If there was any way that he could help McGee, he had to do it.

Gibbs stayed a safe distance away and watched as Kort got out of his car and headed towards the entrance. The man looked very nervous and seemed to be in a hurry. For the first time, he no longer had that smug look on his face. Gibbs couldn't help but smirk. It was about time this bastard got knocked down a peg. He didn't know what had actually happened, but something had Kort on edge. Something had him scared.

Just then Gibbs' phone rang. He saw that it was Abby and immediately answered. "Kinda busy, Abbs. Make if fast."

"_Gibbs, Gibbs! I got something. Well, actually Kort got something. Well, actually the whole CIA got something, but that's not…"_

"Abby!" Gibbs exclaimed impatiently.

"_Right. More information has been found linking Timmy to the terrorist group in Iran, but I don't think Kort did it this time. The information came anonymously to the CIA, and it went to Kort personally. And I mean, why would he send the information to himself. That wouldn't make any sense. He wouldn't need to send the information to himself if he fabricated it," _Abby said.

Gibbs only got the first part of what she said because he noticed Kort come back out and head to his car. He frowned. Why would Kort be leaving so soon? He'd just gotten there. What was he up to?"

Gibbs immediately started following Kort a safe distance away. It turned out to be more difficult this time because the man was speeding.

"_Gibbs, are you still there?" _Abby asked.

"Just hang on for a minute, Abby," Gibbs said. He didn't want to hang up just yet. His gut was telling him that he would need her. About fifteen minutes into the drive, he realized why. "Abby, Kort is headed to the airport. I need you to hack into the system and find why. Now!"

"_Gibbs, do you know how long that could take?"_ Abby asked.

It'll take five minutes because that's all we have! Just do it!" Gibbs ordered. He didn't know what was about to happen, but he knew it had to be bad.

Gibbs continued to struggle to keep up with Kort. The man was obviously panicked because he was driving like a maniac. "Come on, Abby, we're almost there."

"_Hang on, I just got in the system. Okay, here it is. Oh. Uh oh."_

"What?" Gibbs asked.

"_He just booked an emergency flight to Iran," _Abby told him.

"Dammit!" Gibbs cursed before disconnecting the call. He then used the contact number he had for Nate Getz. "Yeah, it's me. We've got a big problem."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim was back at his computer when his phone rang. He immediately picked it up. "What's up, Nate?"

"_Tim, I just got off the phone with Gibbs. Kort booked a flight to Iran,"_ Nate said.

Tim leaned forward in attention. "Has he left yet?"

"_Yeah. Gibbs wanted to stop him, but I told him to let him go. I figured you had nothing to fear by Kort going to Iran anyway and Gibbs didn't really have a legitimate reason to stop him," _Nate explained.

"No, you did the right thing," Tim assured him.

"_So what's the play now?" _Nate asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Tim lied. He knew exactly what he was going to do now, but he also knew that Nate would stop him if he told him. "I'll let you know when I figure it out. Just keep going as planned."

"_Okay."_

Tim immediately hung up the phone and took a deep breath. He was really hoping he wouldn't have to do this, but he didn't have a choice. It was time to stop Kort once and for all. He had to go to Iran.


	22. Chapter 22

"Have you lost your mind?" Ziva asked as she watched Tim gather his things. He had just told her about his plan to follow Kort to Iran.

"Well, if I have, it wouldn't be the first time," Tim joked.

Ziva ignored the comment. "Do you not understand that Kort already thinks you are in Iran? That means that there is likely a price on your head there and has been for weeks."

"I understand all of that very well. I also understand that if I can't stop Kort, I might as well be dead anyway. I've been accused of the worst crime our country recognizes. They will do whatever they have to do to crucify me. The only way for me to save myself is to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was set up. He'll never do that on American soil, but he might in Iran," Tim explained. He planned to wear a wire so that when he did get to Kort, he could record him.

"Of course he will admit it. Right before he kills you!" Ziva exclaimed. "That is if you even get as far as Kort. You could be taken out as soon as you set one foot out of the Iranian airport.

"I don't plan to die," Tim told her.

"And how do you plan to stay alive? You are a good agent, McGee, better than almost anyone I've ever met, but not even you are skilled enough to withstand multiple enemies that you do know and cannot anticipate when and if they will attack. And if somehow, you managed to get all the way to Kort and beat him, his terrorist friends will get to you after," Ziva said.

"What's my alternative? Live in fear for the rest of my life. I can't do that, not anymore than you could've when you were a fugitive," Tim said.

"That was not the same. I at least had a fighting chance. I did not have to fight half the country. For all you know, you will. You don't know how many of them there are, and you can be sure that no one will care what they do to you," Ziva said. Iranians didn't give a damn about a federal agent from America. They wouldn't lift a finger to help him.

"There's no choice, Ziva. Forget taking down Kort for a minute. This is something I have to do just to get my life back. I will not be a fugitive for the rest of my life," Tim said firmly. He would be damned if he let Trent Kort destroy his life. He had worked too hard to get it where it was. No one was taking it from him, least of all a smug little weasel like Kort.

Ziva nodded. She still did not like it, but she understood it. She would probably do the same if she were him. "Then I am coming with you."

"That's not necessary. I'll be fine. Besides, my old team will come as soon as they find out," Tim said. He had planned to call Nate as soon as he was headed for Iran. The only reason he'd lied earlier was because he was still at a point where Nate could stop him. He would tell him as soon as he was passed that point. He knew the man would alert the rest of the team immediately and they would come.

"It is necessary. We are talking about your life here. You need some kind of backup going in. Now I realize you may not trust me…"

"No, it's not that. Out in the field, aside from my team, there is no one I trust to have my back more. But like you said, it's dangerous. I don't want to put you at risk," Tim said. Putting himself at risk was one thing, but putting Ziva at risk was quite another.

"I will be fine. You need backup and I am going to be it," she said firmly.

Tim sighed. He knew there wasn't any point in arguing further. Ziva had made up her mind. "Okay."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Nate was in his office when the disposable phone he had specifically to speak with Tim started ringing. He immediately picked it up. "Hello."

"_Hey, Nate,"_ Tim said.

"Hey. You figure out your next move?" Nate asked. He'd been anxiously awaiting the answer to that since he'd last spoken with Tim.

"_Yeah, about that. I wasn't completely honest with you, Nate. I already knew what I was going to do when we last spoke," _Tim told him.

"Then why did you say you didn't?" Nate asked. He had a feeling he was not going to like what his friend said next.

"_Because I knew you would try to stop me. I've decided to follow Kort to Iran."_

And it turned out Nate was right. He didn't like this one bit. In fact, he hated it. "Tim, no, you can't do that! It's a suicide mission."

"_It's already done, Nate. This is the way it has to be. I have to stop Kort once and for all," _Tim said.

"Tim, if you are on the plane, you tell the pilot to land somewhere else! You cannot touch down in Iran!" Nate yelled frantically. This was very bad. If Tim landed in Iran, he would be killed. Kort would've seen to that the moment the evidence originally pointed to Tim being in Iran.

"_I'm sorry, I can't do that. I understand that I'm forcing your hand a bit, but you have to understand that Kort forced mine. I have to go. I'll see you soon, I'm sure," _Tim said.

"No! Do not hang… Dammit!" Nate cursed as he realized that Tim had hung up on him.

Nate scrambled to his feet and practically flew out of his off. He ran through the squad room, ignoring the curious glances from every member of the team before bursting into Hetty's office.

"Where's the fire, Mr. Getz?" Hetty asked.

"Hetty, you remember when you told me if things got worse that you expected me to tell you about it? Well, we've officially reached that point.

Hetty immediately stood up. "Operations."

Nate nodded before running out of the room and towards the stairs.

"What's going on?" Callen asked when Hetty and Nate came out of her office.

"Everyone to the Operations center now," Hetty ordered.

They all scrambled out of their seats and followed Hetty up the stairs and into the Ops. Center. Nate was already there looking very agitated.

"Is everything okay?" Nell asked.

"No, everything is not okay. It is very far from okay. He's gonna get himself killed, I just know it," Nate said as he began pacing.

"Mr. Getz calm down. Whatever is going on here is going to require cool heads.

Nate nodded. He stopped pacing immediately and took a deep breath to calm himself. He was going to need to be as calm as possible as he explained this whole complicated mess.

"Good. Now the time for secrets and lies is officially over, Mr. Getz. If things have gotten as bad as your demeanor implies, you need to read us all in," Hetty said firmly.

Nate nodded. "And it is that bad. Alright. Things got a bit complicated when I got to DC a few weeks ago."

"Before or after you betrayed us all?" Sam asked bitterly. "And what does it have to do with why you're acting like a nut job now?"

"Like I said, it got complicated fast. Tim wasn't content with just exonerating Callen. He wanted Kort's head and he didn't care what he had to do to get it," Nate said. He figured if he was going to explain, he should start at the very beginning. "His plan was all along to leave the country before you were exonerated, Callen."

"Yeah, you said that. You claimed that he 'tricked' you into helping him get away. What a bunch of crap," Callen said as he glared at Nate.

"How you could believe such garbage is beyond me," Kensi added.

"I know you're all angry. You'll probably be even more angry be the time I'm finished, but at least it'll be for the right reasons," Nate said. He had no doubt they'd be angry at him for lying and letting what happened happen. He should've told them as soon as he got back to LA. Maybe Tim wouldn't be on his way to a warzone if he had.

"As opposed to this one? You think we don't have a reason to be angry that you betrayed Tim?" Kensi asked angrily.

"No, you have a right to be angry. You don't know the whole story," Nate said.

"Like anything can justify the things you've said about Tim," Kensi said.

"One thing could," Nell said as she smiled at Nate.

Nate smiled back. "You knew."

"I suspected, but I didn't want to say anything. I figured you had your reasons for keeping quiet," Nell said.

"Okay, for everyone that doesn't have ESP, can someone explain?" Callen asked.

"It's like I said, Tim wanted Kort's head. He said he was fed up with Kort thinking he could do whatever he wanted and get away with it. He said that going after you as the last straw, Callen. I didn't like what he was planning, but I understood, so I helped him," Nate explained.

"Until a bunch of lies were shoved in your face. Then you couldn't turn on him fast enough," Callen said as he glared.

"I didn't turn on him," Nate said.

"If this is where you claim once more that he betrayed us, I swear I will take out my gun and shoot you," Sam warned.

"Look, I know you're all upset, but I need you to stop interrupting me so that I can get this out," Nate said. He was trying to keep calm, but Tim was in serious trouble and Tim was of the essence.

"Fine. Get on with it," Callen said grudgingly.

"Okay. So Tim had planned to go to Iran to join the terrorist group," Nate said.

"That's crap!" Kensi yelled.

"No, it's not. That part is the God's honest truth. Tim told me that himself. But then Tim got the call about Kort setting him up," Nate said.

"Wait a second. You said you didn't know what Tim was being accused of when Vance asked," Callen said. He then began to piece it together. It never made sense for Tim to let Nate unknowingly take the fall like that. He tried to reason that it was for plausible deniability, but it was still hard to swallow. Tim didn't know that Nate would turn against him, thus making it look like Nate was a victim in the CIA's eyes. Unless he did know. Unless it was their plan all along.

"Well, what could I say? That I knowingly helped a wanted terrorist escape custody? I couldn't say that and Tim would never let me say it," Nate said.

"You lied. You never thought he was guilty," Kensi realized.

Nate shook his head. "Never. I could never turn my back on Tim. Just saying that I thought he was guilty made me want to choke on my own words."

"So this was all part of the plan to make sure you didn't go down for aiding and abetting," Sam said. He was really kicking himself for not seeing this all along. He should've known Nate would never betray a friend like that. He had let his anger get the best of him and it blinded him to the truth.

Callen had similar thoughts. He should've seen this. Maybe not during the interrogation, but he certainly should've later. He should've known Nate wasn't a traitor. God, he'd said some terrible things to Nate. He'd told him he was worse than Gibbs and that he should rot in hell. No, Nate hadn't betrayed a teammate. The rest of them had.

"That was part of it. That was the biggest reason Tim wanted me to do it, but my biggest reason was so that if he needed me, he could ask for help without fear of traced call. And he did. He had me ask Gibbs for help in keeping an eye on Kort while he made Kort believe that he had indeed infiltrated the terrorists. Unfortunately, there's where the problem lies. Kort went to Iran, undoubtedly to get rid of Tim," Nate explained.

"And Tim is following him," Callen finished for him. He knew Tim well, and unfortunately, he knew that Tim would follow Kort despite the risk.

"Oh God!" Kensi exclaimed as she realized the amount of trouble her partner was in.

"Is there any way to stop him?" Callen asked. He doubted it, but he had to ask the question.

Nate shook his head sadly. "He's already left."

"Alright, Mr. Callen, Mr. Hanna, and Ms. Blye, go and get your things together. You are going to go after Mr. McGee and bring him home. Go!" Hetty ordered.

All three agents immediately rushed out of Ops.


	23. Chapter 23

Callen made his way to Nate's office. He needed to talk to him before they left. Who knew whether they would make it back or not? This might be his only chance to tell Nate how sorry he was.

Callen stopped in front of Nate's office and knocked on the open door.

Nate looked up from what he was doing. "Hey. I figured you'd be gone by now."

"We're waiting on Sam. I had to take care of a couple of things at home. Can I come in?" Callen asked.

"Of course," Nate said as though it were obvious.

Callen immediately crossed the threshold into his friend's office. "I owe you a very serious apology, Nate."

"No, you don't," Nate said.

"Yes, I do. I called you a traitor. I said you like Gibbs when nothing could be further from the truth. I'm the one that's like him," Callen said shamefully. Ever since he'd had his eyes opened about how Gibbs really was, he'd prided himself with being a better man and a better Agent in Charge. But the truth was he was no better. He'd done exactly what Gibbs had. He'd betrayed a friend.

"No, you're not!" Nate said firmly before standing up and going over to Callen. He was not about to listen to this crap. Callen was a better man than Gibbs could ever be. He was not going to let think otherwise. "You are nothing like Gibbs. Nothing!"

"I turned my back on you, Nate. The same way Gibbs turned his back on Tim," Callen said guiltily.

"No, not the same. Gibbs was never anything but disrespectful and frankly abusive to Tim. And he never had a reason other than the fact that Tim had different ideals than him. You had a reason. Your reason was my words. I looked you dead in the eye and I said Tim was guilty. And I knew how you'd react. So did Tim. We counted on it," Nate told him.

Callen shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I should've known better. I should've known that you would never turn your back on Tim."

"Callen, don't you understand? I did what I had to do to make sure you _didn't_ figure that. I knew how to work you. I knew how angry you had to be already after spending a week in jail for a crime you didn't commit. I knew finding out Tim was being accused in your place had increased that rage by a hundred. Telling you that I thought he was guilty would send you right over the edge and I knew it. And I made sure you stayed angry later. Emotion is a powerful thing, Callen. It can help you or it can hinder you. Your emotions clouded your better judgment, just as I knew they would.

"So that's why you pulled that whole shrink crap on me a while back. You were trying to piss me off," Callen realized.

"Yes. I wanted to make sure your anger didn't simmer. I needed you angry. It was the only thing that kept you from realizing that I was lying. And if Tim hadn't done the unthinkable and gone to Iran, I would've continued with it all. You wanna blame someone for the way you treated me, blame me. I brought it on myself, literally," Nate said.

Just then, Sam and Kensi showed up. "Hey, you ready?" Sam asked Callen.

"Yeah, Nate and I were just clearing the air," Callen said.

A guilty look crossed Sam's face. "Yeah, about that, man…"

"Okay, stop! No more apologies. I don't need an apology from any of you. None of you owe me an apology," Nate told them firmly.

"Of course we do. We treated you horribly. 'I'm sorry' doesn't even cover it," Kensi said. She too felt a lot of guilt for believing the worst of Nate.

Nate sighed. "Okay, I want you all to listen very carefully to what I'm about to say. This. Is. What. We. Wanted. We wanted you all to turn on me. It was the only way to convince Kort that I was not an accomplice. Now I won't say it didn't hurt, but I was prepared for how you'd react to me. I wouldn't expect anything less from any of you. I know how loyal and protective you are. Especially when it comes to Tim. You are all more protective of him because of what he's been through in the past. That was another reason I knew that you would take my words seriously."

"But our protectiveness shouldn't have come at your expense," Kensi said. It was true that she was very protective of her partner, but Nate was once her partner too, even if it was for a short time. She should've known better than to think he'd turn on them so easily.

"No matter how you wanna spin it, we betrayed you, Nate. You should hate us for that," Sam said.

"Why do you think you betrayed me? Because you believed something I told you? What logic does that make? I gave you absolutely no reason to believe I was lying about what I said. I was convincing. Even the director couldn't figure out if I was lying or not. The only one that knew for sure was Hetty and that's because the woman has superhuman powers that nobody could possibly understand," Nate said.

That comment resulted in chuckling from all three agents.

Nate smiled as well, but quickly got serious again. "Look, we're all okay. I don't hold a grudge against any of you."

"Then you're a better friend than we deserve, and we thank you for that. I still have to say it though. "I'm sorry," Callen said.

"We're all sorry," Kensi added.

"Your apologies are accepted and completely unnecessary. Look, you wanna do something to me? Go get Tim and bring him home in one piece. That's all I want," Tim said.

Sam smiled. "That we can do. Come on, let's get the show on the road."

Callen and Kensi nodded and followed Sam out


	24. Chapter 24

Tim and Ziva stepped out into the airport in Iran. "Okay, we are here. Let us hope we can at least make it out of this airport alive," Ziva said as they walked down the corridor to the main lobby.

Tim glanced around as inconspicuously as possible. "I've got two by the ticket booth paying us some attention."

"I see a couple by baggage claim," Ziva said as she noticed two men glancing at them.

Tim took another peek at the men closest to him to see if he could read his demeanor. Eighteen months in undercover made him quite good at such a task. After a moment he found that the men were suspicious, but did not know for certain who he was.

Tim put his arm around Ziva and began talking loudly. "Babe, I can't believe I let you talk me into coming here for our honeymoon. The middle of a warzone doesn't exactly scream romance."

Ziva was confused at first, but to her credit, she quickly recovered and began to play along. She pulled away and placed her hand on hip before giving Tim a fake glare. "You said you wanted to meet my family and see where I grew up. Was that a lie?"

"Of course not, Honey, but when I said that I didn't think you meant on our honeymoon. We should be alone enjoying ourselves as husband and wife," Tim said.

"Are you saying you would not enjoy yourself with my family?" Ziva asked in typical wifely fashion.

"No, of course not, honey," Tim said before looking past her and seeing the two men at baggage claim walk away. He only hoped that the other two had as well, but he would not chance looking back to see. "Look, forget I said anything. Let's go."

The two of them then grabbed what little luggage they had from baggage claim and left the airport. "Okay, what was that?" Ziva asked.

"They didn't know who I was. They were just suspicious because I was American. I'm sure American visitors is a seldom occurrence," Tim said.

"How did you know?" Ziva asked. She considered herself pretty good at reading people and she hadn't figured that out.

Tim smirked. "Eighteen months doing nothing but surveillance and undercover work. Now I'm almost positive that they worked for Kort and his terrorist gang, but they didn't have my picture or anything. They didn't know who I was."

"And they certainly won't know now. If I did not know any better, I would say you were my husband and we were here to visit my family. So what now?"

"Now we find a hotel and I find a way to let Kort know I'm here," Tim said before walking away from the airport.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Twenty minutes later, Tim and Ziva were entering their hotel room. "Well, I would say it is almost certain that Kort will figure out you are here. After all, you did check in under the name Trent Kort," Ziva said.

Tim smirked. Yeah, he thought that was a nice touch. Anybody who saw that would think that he was mocking Kort. And he was. Who said he couldn't have a little fun while he cleared his name.

"Why don't you just hold up a neon sign saying 'Timothy McGee is here'?" Ziva asked sarcastically. She found it highly dangerous for Tim to drop Kort's name. He would immediately know where they were and he would come after them.

"Too flashy," Tim retorted as he took out phone.

"Who are you calling?" Ziva asked.

"Eric," Tim said simply as he dialed.

"I thought you did not want them involved," Ziva said. That was what he had been saying this whole time. He had wanted to protect his team from what he was facing.

"Well, I think it's a bit late for that at this point. Besides, I think it's safe to say we're nearly at endgame," Tim said as he placed the phone to his ear and waited for an answer.

"_This is Eric."_

"Hey, Eric, it's Tim," he said.

"Tim, thank God. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Where is everyone?" Tim asked.

"_Well, Nell is here with me in Ops, Nate and Hetty are in their respective offices, and the rest are on their way to you," _Eric told him.

"So everybody's pretty much where they're supposed to be," Tim sufficed.

"_Everyone but you. You are definitely not supposed to be in Iran," _Eric said.

"Yeah, well, you do what you have to. Listen, Eric, I need a favor," Tim said.

"_What is it?"_

"I need you and Nell to make it look like Kort and I am in contact and have been for some time. I wanna make it look like this whole thing has been a stunt to take down the group of terrorists," Tim said. He wanted Kort isolated. He wanted it to look like Kort had betrayed his terrorist friends just like he'd made it look like they had betrayed him. He wanted Kort cornered. That was when he made mistakes. He knew he wouldn't be killed by the terrorists. He was like a snake that way. He would slither his way out. But he wouldn't from Tim. With him, he was finally going to meet his end one way or another.

Tim soon heard talk in the background before there was a shuffle with the phone and Nell's voice came on the other end. _"Tim, it's Nell. Listen, Hetty has been on the phone with everyone from Vance to the FBI to the CIA all day. She's claiming that Kort going to Iran without authority makes him look like the guilty one. And Eric and I are looking for evidence to support it. You're going to be exonerated. Just come home with Callen and the others."_

"Sorry, Nell, I can't do that. The son of a bitch came after our team. He's going to learn you don't do that and get away with it. He's going to know what a fatal error it was for him to come after us," Tim said firmly. It wasn't about just his innocence. Yes, proving that was a priority, but so was taking Kort down once and for all.

"_And if it costs you your life to do so?" _Nell asked.

"Then at least I'll have taken him down with me," Tim said before hanging up.

"If you bag Kort into a corner, he will come after you with the intent to kill. He will not stop until you are dead," Ziva said seriously. She'd heard Tim's plan and she thought it was stupidest idea ever. This would surely get him killed.

Tim didn't correct Ziva's idiomatic mistake. He just smirked at her. "That's what I'm counting on."


	25. Chapter 25

The next morning, Ziva walked into the room she and Tim were sharing with coffee and bagels. She found Tim on one of the beds on his computer. "What are you doing?"

"I've just sent Kort an email. By now, Eric will have worked his magic. Kort will be on the run," Tim said with a smirk.

"And he will be gunning for you. Why would you do that? He will run a trace on your email and he will be able to find us. Not that it would be that hard regardless seeing as you checked in under his name," Ziva said. To her, this was beyond reckless. He was going to get herself killed.

"I'm counting on that, Ziva. In fact, I installed a program to let me know when he hacks my system to get the trace," Tim said. Once that happened, he would make sure the hotel was vacated. That way no innocent lives would be risked.

"You want Kort to find us here? Do you have a death wish?" Ziva asked. Just when she thought he could get no more reckless, her former colleague proved her wrong. She understood the need to prove his innocence and make Kort pay for what he did, but there had to be a way to do that without endangering himself further.

"Not at all. I know what I'm doing, Ziva. I got rid of Kort's terrorist friends for a reason and it wasn't just to make Kort squirm. That was just an added bonus. I did it because without them, it's us against Kort," Tim explained.

"But Kort is dangerous even on his own. He may not be the smartest, but he fights dirty. And you have given him more than a little incentive to try even harder to kill you," Ziva said serious.

"True, but we have an advantage. I know what Kort's thinking right now. It's like you said, I've given him reason to be very, very pissed, which means he's going to make a mistake. A man's biggest weakness is his temper. Add that to Kort's other big flaw. His arrogance. Kort thinks he's better than me, but he's going to find out he's wrong. I'm gonna snap that little weasel like a twig," Tim said with a smirk.

Ziva snorted. "And Kort's the arrogant one."

Tim laughed. "Oh, I don't deny I'm arrogant. I'll tell you the same thing I told your dad. My arrogance can be backed up by the work I've done. Kort's arrogance is more like that of DiNozzo's. It exists because no one bothered to take him down a peg. Also, I don't underestimate Kort the way he does me. I know he's a threat. The fact that he was able to frame Callen and then me is proof of that. I know that I need to be careful and I intend to me. Kort, on the other hand, sees me as nothing. Well, he might see me as slightly more than nothing now. The point is that he underestimates me in the worst way. He doesn't think I stand a chance against him in fight. That's where I have the advantage."

"Okay, you may have a point, but I am still worried. This is dangerous," Ziva said.

Tim shrugged. "I've faced worse and so have you. It'll be okay."

Just then there was a knock at the door.

Tim stood up and he and Ziva immediately drew their weapons. Tim motioned for Ziva to take cover behind the door. He then went to the other side and slowly opened the door. He jumped out with his gun pointed at the person on the other side. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized who it was. It was his team. "Hey, guys."

Callen, Sam, and Kensi immediately walked inside. "You don't look like Trent Kort," Sam said.

Tim chuckled.

Ziva, meanwhile, holstered her gun and moved towards them.

"You guys remember Ziva," Tim said.

The rest of the LA team gave her dark, hard stares before turning back to Tim. "So have you completely lost your mind?" Callen asked.

"Yeah, you remember what I said before you left. I said to bring yourself back too," Sam added.

"I intend to. It's just taking me a little bit longer than I thought," Tim said.

"You shouldn't have done this. You should've just left well enough alone," Callen said. He was grateful for what Tim did for him, but at the same time, he wished he hadn't. The younger man was now paying for saving him and he never wanted that.

"Well enough. You would've been killed eventually. There was no way in hell I was going to let that happen. You would've done the same for me. Besides, it's gonna be fine. I'm this close to nailing Kort's ass to the wall," Tim said.

"I must say, it was good work getting Kort to Iran. By the way, you totally flipped Nate out by following Kort," Kensi said.

"So I guess he told you," Tim said. He wasn't surprised. He expected it.

"Which you knew he'd do. That's why you waiting until you were on the plane to tell him," Callen said knowingly.

"Yes. I knew telling Nate that I was going to Iran would be a deal breaker and he would go to you immediately. I needed to make sure he couldn't stop me. By the way, try not to be too mad at him for keeping it a secret that we were in contact. It was my idea," Tim said.

"I'm too mad at myself to be mad at him," Callen said. He was still feeling guilty for how easily he'd believe Nate had betrayed him. "I should've known he would never turn his back on you or this team."

"But you didn't know that because we didn't want you to. I need you all to be in the clear. It was bad enough that I'd involved Nate. The only way I knew to keep you all out of it and to exonerate Nate was for him to make everyone, including all of you, believe he had turned on me," Tim said.

"Yeah, we get that now. We should've known the whole time though," Callen said.

"So what's the play? How are we kicking Kort's ass?" Sam asked.

Tim quickly filled them in on what he'd had Eric do and how he'd set in motion a plan to lure Kort to him.

"Not bad. We'll just have to get the hotel evacuated and get the rest of us in position," Callen said.

Tim soon heard his computer beep. He immediately went over to it. "Kort's into my system. He'll have our location soon enough. It's game time."

"I'll head downstairs and get the staff to leave," Kensi said.

"I will assist you," Ziva said before the two women quickly left the room.

"Alright, let's start getting the rooms vacated," Tim said. He, Sam and Callen then left as well.


	26. Chapter 26

Trent Kort walked into the hotel McGee was staying in with his gun drawn. He found McGee leaning over the front desk in the lobby. Kort carefully closed the door so McGee wouldn't hear him and advanced on the agent. Once he was close enough, he pressed the trigger end of his gun to the back of the man's head. "Take your gun out and put it on the desk."

If Tim was at all intimidated, he didn't show it. "Well, hello, Kort. Fancy meeting you here."

Kort pressed the gun to his head harder. "Do it!"

"Alright, already. No need to have meltdown," Tim said before slowly taking his gun from his belt and placing it down on the desk.

"Knife too," Kort said.

Tim chuckled. "Gibbs will be happy to know that the CIA is up to date on his rules. You know that was the only rule I ever bothered to stick to after I left his team?" he asked before taking the pocket knife he carried too.

Kort quickly leaned forward and took the two weapons. "You seem pretty cocky for a man about to die. Maybe you spent a little too much time around DiNozzo,"

"Hey, now that's just uncalled for. There's no reason to go around insulting each other," Tim said.

"Did you really think you could come after me? Did you really think you stood a chance?" Kort asked.

"You came after me. You attacked my team and though you could get away with it. As for standing a chance, I think I did a pretty good job. You tried to frame Callen. I stopped you. You tried to implicate me in an attempt to get me to let Callen fry. I saved him and I got out of dodge. You didn't get either of us. Then I managed to make your buddies to think you'd turned on them. I'm sure you managed to talk them out of killing you on the spot, but it was too late by then. You'd already made a trip to Iran, the country where terrorists were working with an American agent. You made yourself a suspect by doing that and you knew it. The moment you made it here, my agency started explaining their theory to yours. And last but not least, I made it look like your terrorist friends had turned on you. I'd say I did a pretty good job for a computer geek," Tim said. That was what Kort had called him that day at the coffee shop. It felt only fitting that he throw it back in his face.

"And yet you're still going to be the one dead," Kort said before cocking the gun.

"If you're gonna kill me, at least be a man about it. Look me in the eye when you kill me. Only a coward shoots a man when his back is turned," Tim said.

Kort thought about it for a minute and then moved the pressure of the gun from McGee's head. "Fine. Turn around."

Tim smiled and turned around. "Great. Now where were we? Oh, yeah, you were about to shoot me. Tell me something first. What was the point? Why would you work with terrorists?"

Kort shrugged and kept his gun trained on Tim. "Why does anyone do anything, McGee? Money."

"Yeah, I figured. I just wanted to hear it. Why Callen? Why set him up?" Tim asked.

"Never liked him much. I didn't even like him when we worked together. And when my bosses started catching on that there was a rogue agent, it just came to me," Kort said.

"So you thought you could just frame Callen and that would be it," Tim said.

"It would've been if not for you. You should've just left well enough alone," Kort said.

"You should've left it alone. You should've left us alone. The moment you came after Callen, you declared war. I just responded," Tim said.

"And you'll still lose," Kort said with an arrogant smirk.

"Yeah, I don't think so. Even if I did die tonight, which I won't, you're still finished. My boss is right this minute working to prove what you really are. And she never gives up until she wins. Not that she'll have to try that hard. You made it easy by falling into every trap I laid out for you. You're done, Kort," Tim said with a smirk.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. I'm good at maneuvering out of touch situations," Kort said.

"So am I," Tim said.

Kort laughed mockingly. "You think you still have a shot of getting out of here alive. Look around you, McGee. We're alone and unarmed."

"Well, you're half right. I am unarmed, but what makes you think we're alone," Tim asked before staring passed Kort.

Kort turned to find Callen and Sam behind him with guns trained on him. He turned back in time to see Ziva and Kensi come out on either side of Tim.

"Like I said, I don't intend to die tonight. You know, you really should've realized this was a trap the moment you walked through the door. This is a hotel for God's sake. Why would it be deserted? You let your arrogance take control over your common sense just like I knew you would," Tim said.

Kort didn't speak. He was too busy fuming. This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to end McGee's pathetic existence and then figure out how to get his life back.

"It gets better," Tim said before reaching underneath his shirt and pulling out a wire. "Everything you said was recorded and it went right to Eric in LA. So even if somehow you managed to kill us all, you'd still go down."

"Put the gun down, Kort," Callen ordered.

Kort didn't comply. He just stood there and weighed his options. He knew one way or another, he was going to go down. If he dropped his gun, he would be charged with terrorism and attempted murder. If he didn't drop it, he would be killed. He was going to meet his end no matter what. But he would be damned if McGee went back to his life when he couldn't.

Kort lowered his gun as if he was going to surrender, but then quickly raised it again. Several gunshots rang out at once.


	27. Chapter 27

Tim watched as Kort fell to the ground seconds after trying to take a shot at him. He hadn't even gotten a shot off. Callen, Sam, Kensi, and Ziva had all fired as soon as he raised the gun, and being the sharp marksmen they were, they all met their target. Kort was on the ground with four bullet holes in his body.

Sam went over and bent down to check his pulse. "He's dead."

Tim went over and took his weapons off Kort's body. "This isn't exactly how I wanted it to end." He'd wanted Kort to live. He'd wanted him to suffer for what he did. But at least it was over.

"We need to leave. Iranian authorities will not take well to American Feds killing on their territory, even if it is not one of theirs that is dead," Ziva said.

"We just leave him here?" Kensi asked.

"Works for me," Sam said. He was just fine with leaving Kort's body to rot. The man had been a traitor. He didn't deserve the honor of being brought back with them.

"I'm sure the CIA can go through the proper channels to ship him back," Callen said.

"If they even want him back," Tim added.

"Hmmm. Let's get out of here before anyone finds us," Callen said before leading the way towards the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The team plus Ziva made it back to LA early the next morning. Ziva had joined them in LA because after phoning Hetty, they'd been told that Vance was already there and wanted a debriefing from all of them.

When Tim walked into the squad room, He was surprised to see that Gibbs was there with the director and the rest of the team. "What are you doing here?"

"He insisted on coming and I didn't feel like arguing," Vance said.

"You alright?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank for your help," Tim said. No matter what else, he appreciated Gibbs' help.

Nate approached Tim. "I could slap you, you know?"

Tim chuckled. "Yeah, I know. I had to do it this way, Nate. I knew that if you knew I was headed for Iran, you would try to stop me."

"With good reason. It's not a safe place to be even when you don't have terrorists on your tail," Nate said.

"Well, it all worked out. Kort's dead and he confessed to being the traitor," Tim said.

"By the way, you've been cleared of all charges, McGee. Eric sent the feed to the CIA as soon as Kort made the confession," Vance said.

Tim turned to Eric. "Thanks, man, I owe you. I owe all of you."

"It's what we do. Besides, you're the own who put his own ass on the line to save G," Sam said.

Just then Hetty came out of her office and approached them. "Glad to see everyone's in one piece. Now if you would all follow me, we can start the debriefing. By the way, Mr. McGee, you're never going on vacation again," she said before circling back towards her office.

Tim laughed at Hetty's last words to him. "She's kidding, right?"

"I wouldn't bet on it," Nate said.

Tim immediately made a beeline for Hetty's office. "Hetty? Hetty, come on, let's talk about this."

The others laughed at their colleagues expense before following him.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

About an hour later, Tim found himself sitting on the small couch in the squad room. He was watching as Ziva and Gibbs spoke by his and Sam's work space.

"You gonna talk to him?"

Tim turned to see Nate by his side. "Who?"

"You know who," Nate said.

Tim turned back to Gibbs and Ziva. "Other than to thank him again and tell him I hope to never have to see him again, no, I wasn't planning to.

Nate sat down next to Tim. "Can I give you some advice?"

"Do I really have a choice?" Tim asked. He knew Nate well. He would give his unsolicited advice whether it was wanted or not.

"Let it go. Let the bitterness go," Nate said.

"Nate…"

"No, just listen to me for a minute, okay? I'm not saying this for him. Lord knows he doesn't deserve it. I'm saying it for you. This bitterness could end up destroying you if you let. And as much as I'm sure you want to deny it, you are bitter," Nate said.

Tim sighed and looked at his friend. "Maybe I am, but don't you think I have a reason to be?"

"Yes, I do. Gibbs is a bastard. He treated you like crap and he deserves your hatred. But you don't deserve to carry it around. I'm not telling you to forgive him. I'm saying find a way to move on," Nate said before getting up

Tim turned back to where Gibbs and Ziva were standing. Callen and Vance had showed up as well. It looked as though Vance was gearing up for them to go.

In a split second decision, Tim stood up and made his way over to them.

"Well, I think it's time for us to go," Vance was saying.

"Not yet," Tim said before looking at Gibbs. "I need to talk to you."

Gibbs nodded.

Tim immediately led his former boss down the hall to the supply closet. Once they were both inside Tim closed the door.

"What's up?" Gibbs asked as though he didn't know. He knew exactly what McGee wanted. He wanted to talk about the past. To lash out at him again. And Gibbs would let him. He owed the man that much

"First I want to tell you that I really do appreciate all you've done. You played a big part in helping me bring Kort down. Thank you," Tim said genuinely.

Gibbs nodded. "But that's not why you wanted to talk to me."

"No, it's not. I really had no intention of talking to you at all, but a friend of mine just pointed out that I need to move on and I can't do that without talking to you first. Sometimes I really hate you," Tim said.

"You have a right to," Gibbs said.

"Gee, thanks," Tim said bitterly before he could stop himself.

"I'm sorry. I know it's too little, too late, but it's the truth. I'm sorry for the way that I treated you," Gibbs said.

"Why did you hire me? I really wanna know. You obviously didn't think I was agent material, so why?" Tim asked curiously.

"I did think you were agent material. Don't think I didn't. I saw potential when I looked at you. That's why I hired you. It's just that I got caught up in day to day issues. When we went into the field and I left you behind, I would tell myself that next time I would give you the experience you needed. After a while, I stopped even telling myself that and told myself that you were better where you were," Gibbs said.

"And of course you had Tony beside who constantly belittled me and what I did and acted like I couldn't be a good agent. And you started to believe it too," Tim said.

"Yeah," Gibbs admitted. He wouldn't deny it. He owed Tim the truth. He owed him a lot, but he at least owed him that.

"You know what I thought when I met you? I thought 'this guy can teach me. He can show me what it means to be a good agent'. That's what I wanted. I didn't just want to be a field agent or work on a MCRT. I wanted to learn from _you._ But you wouldn't teach me. Like you, I told myself 'next time'. But next time never came. And the fact that it didn't was even worse than the abuse you let the others inflict upon me. I could've lived with all that if I'd just gotten one inkling that you thought I was worth a damn," Tim said. He felt like a little kid talking like this, but once he started, he just couldn't stop.

"You're worth more than a damn, McGee. You're one of the best agents I've ever known. Not many could've pulled off a high stakes game of cat and mouse with Trent Kort in win. You're an exemplary agent. And while I regret the way I treated you, I can't help but feel that some good came out of it. You wouldn't be the agent you are today if things hadn't happened exactly the way they did. You weren't meant to learn from me, McGee. You weren't meant for an MCRT. This is where you were meant to be," Gibbs said.

"Well, I can't argue with that. I can't forgive you right now," Tim said.

"I understand," Gibbs said. He didn't expect forgiveness. He didn't deserve it.

"But maybe it's not as impossible as I once thought. If I do though, it's because I don't want to live with this anger anymore. It's not for you," Tim said. He would try to forgive and he would definitely work hard to get rid of the bitterness like Nate said, but he would never forget."

"Well, that's more than I could ever expect. No matter what else, I want you to know that I hope your life is good from here on out," Gibbs said.

"It's already good," Tim said.

Gibbs nodded and headed for the door.

Tim followed him back out to the squad room. His team, minus Eric, Nell, and Nate who weren't there, was looking at him as if to ask if everything was alright. "Everything's fine guys."

"We ready to go?" Ziva asked.

"Yes. Agent McGee, Agent Callen, try to avoid getting framed for a while," Vance said.

"We'll do our best," Callen said with a smile.

Vance snorted and led Gibbs and Ziva towards the exit.

The LA team took their desks. Callen sighed. "Finally back to normal. You know I like the action and all, but after these last few weeks, I could use some peace and quiet.

No sooner than the words left Callen's lips did they all hear a whisper from up above.

The four agents started complaining all at once.

"Oh, come on!" Sam exclaimed.

"Really, Eric?" Kensi asked.

"Were your ears burning or something?" Callen.

"Haven't we had enough for one week?" Tim asked.

"Alright, enough. The Operations Center, all of you," Hetty ordered you.

THE END

Tim smiled at Callen as they climbed the stairs to the Ops. Center. "Well, you were right about one thing, Callen. Things really are back to normal."


End file.
